Commodity versus Custom Computers

This is the computer that formed the basis for the Cray XT3 supercomputer. Every node has a 2.4 GHz dual core AMD Opteron processor, and a direct network provides each node with a 6.4 GB/s bidirectional link to its own switch using AMD HyperTransport . The switches connect to their six neighbors with 7.8 GB/s bidirectional links. 

Parallel computers may also be distinguished based on whether they are allocated for capacity or capability computing, and this distinction is related to the commodity versus custom classification. Capacity computers are designed to obtain good throughput and high cost-effectiveness for running many small- to modest-sized jobs. Capability computers are reserved for 

An in-depth, yet very approachable, discussion of network architecture is presented in Principles and Practices of Interconnection Networks by Dally and Towles. An up-to-date and informative discussion of node architecture can be 

Some computer organizations and their effectiveness. IEEE Trans. Comp. C-21 948-960, 1972. 

Wolinski, and P. Pulay. Parallel stored-integral and semidirect Hartree-Fock and DFT methods with data compression. /. Comp. 

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