ariel@bimacs.BITNET (Ariel J. Frank) (02/27/90)
Hi Transputer Land.
I need your advice/info/experience/pricing on the following two
possible transputer setups. Assume you have $40,000 and need a
transputer system for research such as distributed OS design,
concurrent programming (Occam), architecture simulation, and AI search
algorithms. Here are the 2 setups with a few following questions:
1) A Paracom Multicluster-2 system, 8 cards (each card 2*T800, 2*1MB),
one NCU (dynamic network configuration unit) and one workstation with
frontend root transputer card. The software includes Helios
distributed UNIX system, INMOS Occam, Norcroft C, and Parsytec Network
Configuration Manager.
A) I know the frontend can be a SUN/VME workstation (which we
don't have - expensive!). Is there already a Ultrix/QBUS (we
have a VaxStation-II) Helios server? Can it be a PC/386 with
SCO UNIX for example (or any other UNIX, not just MS-DOS)?
B) Is it worth while to have also the MultiTool (INMOS TDS+) with
parallel stand-alone C compilers. Is Parsec ParC recommended?
C) Can the ParaSoft EXPRESS parallel environment run on this setup?
2) A MicroWay AT bus cage system with 4 Quadputer cards (each card
4*T800, 4*1MB), one Linkputer (for dynamic crossbar) and a PC/386 with
a frontend root transputer (MonoPuter) card. The software includes the
ParaSoft EXPRESS parallel environment with C source level debugger and
performance monitor, and MicroWay Occam2 plus 3L Parallel C.
A) Can the PC/386 run SCO UNIX? Does EXPRESS run directly under it or
only in a DOS window under UNIX?
B) Can the Helios DOS run on this setup?
C) How usable is the EXPRESS system for inclusion in a port of a
UNIX system, for example XINU? What C compiler does it use?
With what C compiler (any?) does the debugger work?
And a few common questions:
D) Any parallel Common LISP compiler (Parsys?) available for these setups?
E) Can the Cornell Trollius system be setup on any of these?
F) Has GNU C been ported to one of these setups?
Any comments on any (even one) of these points are welcome. Any other
combinations worh considering (with rep in Israel?) Please E-mail to
me and I will summerize. Thanks in advance, Ariel.
--
Ariel J. Frank
Deputy Chairperson, Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science
Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel 52100
Tel: (972-3-) 5318407/8, Fax: (972-3-) 344766
BITNET: ariel@bimacs (also F68388@barilan)
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