🚀 go-pugleaf

We are planning to purchase some transputer-based, parallel processing
equipment.  We intend to use this system to support an undergraduate
lab for parallel computing.  The hardware will be hung from a SUN fileserver
and will be accessible, via an Ethernet, from diskless SUN workstations in
our undergraduate labs.

Our goal is to provide a variety of environments for students to do
program development in: UNIX(Helios?)/C, TDS/Occam, at the very least.

We are hoping to have at least 64 transputers in the system, and
to allow individual students to request, configure, and release arbitrary
subsets of this collection according to their needs.  This implies a
reasonable sophistication in the system software in order to allow for
a range of connection topologies and to guarantee the security of an
individual's allocation

So far, our investigations have led us to equipment/software marketed by
Paracom (Parsytec) and Meiko.  Both of these companies seem to provide
environments of sufficient sophistication.  The systems currently available
from CSA and INMOS, themselves, do not appear to provide the services we
require.

We would like to hear from others who have experience with these and other
systems.  We are particularly interested in hearing from someone who has
had hands-on experience with Paracom's MultiCluster-2 or SuperCluster
systems or with Meiko's In-Sun Computing Surface.

Nan C. Schaller and Andrew T. Kitchen

ncsics@ritvax.bitnet and atkics@ritvax.bitnet

Rochester Institute of Technology
Computer Science Department
Rochester, NY  14623-0887