The project is designed to allow a more in-depth study in some area of your choice. I suggest you choose either an application or a study. Below is a list of sample topics.

"application" topics (parallel programming and experimentation):

Image Rendering (e.g. Ray Tracing)

Compression (e.g. MP3)

Internet Applications (e.g. Linux Virtual Server)

Sorting

Searching

Matrix Multiplication

Shortest Path (e.g. Dijkstra or Floyd)

Data Mining (e.g. for processing web logs)

Parameter Study

"study" topics (evaluation of cluster technologies):

Cluster Operating Systems

• SolarisMC, Mosix, UnixWare, RHODOS

Cluster Management Systems

• Condor, PBS, Maui Scheduler, Codin, LSF, PBS. Check out: this

Cluster Monitoring Systems

• Alert, SMILE, PARMON, bWatch.

Cluster Tools

• Nimrod, Parallel Commands, check out Parallel Tools Consorium page AND Computing Portals.

Cluster Programming Environments

• PVM, MPI, Linda, cJava, Java Based

Genetic Programming on Clusters

Cluster Applications

• Scientific, Commercial, Webserving, DataMining

Clusters Systems based on Interconnection Networks

• Ehernet, Gigabit Ethernet, SCI, ATM...

Cluster Systems based on OS

• Linux, Solaris, NT, MacOS

Cluster Systems based on node architectures

• PCs, Workstations, SMPs

deliverables:

If your project is an "application", turn-in a hardcopy of your code and a short write-up of your experiments. Do a performance evaluation for varying input sizes (e.g. 10, 50, 100) and cluster configurations (i.e. number of machines) and present results graphically.

If your project is a "study", I expect a small paper (2 to 5 pages). Please include a short bibliography. Use your textbook, resources from the web and/ or from me.

time table:

Th 4/12: turn-in a short paragraph outlining your project

Tu 4/24: mini-presentation and deliverables due

Possibly helpful links:

Cluster Computing Info Centre

MP3 and ray tracing applications