Implementing Virtual Interface Architecture on top of the GM message passing interface

Two different strategies to provide a Virtual Interface Architecture (VIA) layer on top of the Myrinet interconnect network (Boden et al., 1995), are presented. The VIA protocol is based on network user level access to allow high performances and implements a point-to-point bidirectional connected communication model. The first alternative is the integration of a Myrinet device driver in the Modular-VIA architecture. This particular implementation allows an easy development of drivers to support VIA on top of new network devices. However, performances are not fully satisfactory. The second strategy is the development of a VIA interface on top of the Myricom message passing interface. It is a user-level library which achieves great portability, performance and scalability. It can also be integrated in a multi-protocol environment based on the Myrinet media