Hector: automated task allocation for MPI

Many institutions already have networks of workstations, which could potentially be harnessed as a powerful parallel processing resource. A new, automatic task allocation system has been built on top of MPI, an environment that permits parallel programming by using the message-passing paradigm and implemented in extensions to C and FORTRAN. This system, known as “Hector”, supports dynamic migration of tasks and automatic run-time performance optimization. MPI programs can be run without modification under Hector and can be run on existing networks of workstations. Thus Hector permits institutions to harness existing computational resources quickly and transparently