The Giga View Multiprocessor Multidisk Image Server

Issue title: Parallel Computing Projects of the Swiss Priority Programme

Article type: Research Article

Authors: GENNART, B. A. | KRUMMENACHER, B. | LANDRON, L. | HERSCH, R. D. | SAUGY, B. | HADORN, J.-C. | MÜLLER, D.

Affiliations: Laboratoire de Systèmes Périphériques, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Ch-1015 Lausanne; e-mail: {gennart,landron,hersch}@di.epfl.ch | BSI, Bureau de Service et d'Ingéniérie, Primerose, 27, CH-1007 Lausanne

Abstract: Professionals in various fields such as medical imaging, biology, and civil engineering require rapid access to huge amounts of pixmap image data. Multimedia interfaces further increase the need for large image databases. To fulfill these requirements, the GigaView parallel image server architecture relies on arrays of intelligent disk nodes, each disk node being composed of one processor and one disk. This contribution reviews the design of the GigaView hardware and file system, compares it to other storage servers available on the market, and evaluates fields of applications for the architecture.

Journal: Scientific Programming, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 3-13, 1996