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NERSC 3 Greenbook

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Symmetric Multiprocessors

Symmetric multiprocessors (SMPs) are available from a wide range of workstation vendors in various configurations, with up to 64 nodes in current systems from Sun and SGI. These cost-effective systems are comprised of similar or the same components (processor, memory, and disk subsystems) that make up vendor MPP offerings, but the typical programming model for applications on SMPs and most MPPs is different in that explicit message passing and management of memory locality is not required on the SMPs. However, SMPs can be programmed in the same fashion (e.g., with MPI) as MPPs so one component of their capability is providing an ideal development environment for MPP application software. Medium-size SMP systems are the capacity and capability engines for many departmental and working groups within the ER and university research community, although the largest systems of this kind are already out of the range of all but a few of the ER research projects.