DocumentCode :
2165995
Title :
The economics of large-memory computations
Author :
Thomborson, Clark D.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Comput. Sci., Auckland Univ., New Zealand
fYear :
1997
fDate :
10-12 Dec 1997
Firstpage :
579
Lastpage :
592
Abstract :
We propose and justify an economic theory to guide memory system design, operation and analysis. Our theory treats memory random-access latency, and its cost per installed megabyte, as fundamentals. We introduce incentives in our economic theory, and side-constraints in our analytic model of hierarchical memory to ensure sufficient memory bandwidth and processor speed in any “well-formed” system of a given latency and size. We suggest, on the basis of our theory, that computer users should be charged a “rental” cost, proportional to their use of the total capacity in a hierarchical memory system. Finally, we use our theory to compare the cost/performance of various large-memory organisations such as PoPCs (piles of PCs), NOWs (networks of workstations), SMPs (shared memory multiprocessors), MPPs (massively parallel processors), and even Cray-class vector supercomputers
Keywords :
local area networks; memory architecture; performance evaluation; random-access storage; shared memory systems; Cray-class vector supercomputers; cost per installed megabyte; economic theory; hierarchical memory; large memory computation economics; massively parallel processors; memory bandwidth; memory system design; performance; processor speed; random access latency; shared memory multiprocessors; workstation network; Bandwidth; Computer aided instruction; Computer science; Concurrent computing; Costs; Delay; Random access memory; Space technology; Supercomputers; System analysis and design;
fLanguage :
English
Publisher :
ieee
Conference_Titel :
Algorithms and Architectures for Parallel Processing, 1997. ICAPP 97., 1997 3rd International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Melbourne, Vic.
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-4229-1
Type :
conf
DOI :
10.1109/ICAPP.1997.651524
Filename :
651524
Link To Document :
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