DistributePP

A distributed parallel processing toolbox.

DistributePP is a parallel processing package for MATLAB® which is intended to support coarse granularity parallelism across a heterogeneous computing network with access to a shared file system. It is designed to be:

Lightweight - The entire package consists of eight source files (5 MATLAB scripts and 3 C routines) and less than 400 lines of code. Installation is simple, just add the DistributePP directory to the MATLAB search path.

Robust - File system locking controls server coordination so server processes may be killed and started with impunity. Node crashes do not interfere with the proper operation of server processes on other nodes. Such crashes typically do not result in unsatisfied requests because restarted processes or server processes on other nodes will automatically service the abandoned requests. Decentralized coordination leaves the underlying file system as the only single point of failure, and this can be eliminated with file system redundancy.

Flexible - The software supports many-to-many client and server interaction. Client requests are serviced in the order posted and new clients may participate at any time. Newly started server processes immediately begin to satisfy any pending requests.

This software is distributed freely for use by anyone for any purpose provided thatany modified files are documented internally to clearly indicate that they have been modified from the original release. (There is not to be any confusion as to the originality of the software in case modified versions of the code are circulated.)

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.