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Middleware & Platform Software

Hitachi

HI-UX/MPP

The HI-UX/MPP system is a parallel system that does not share memory among nodes but uses distributed memories. The HI-UX/MPP system consists of the following nodes:

  • PU (Processing Unit): A calculation node that performs calculations.
  • IOU (Input/Output Unit): An I/O node that can be connected to I/O devices such as disk drives and DAT drives, and external networks.
  • SIOU (Supervisory IOU): An IOU that is connected to boot consoles and manages a system.

Nodes are connected via a high-speed network called the 3-dimensional crossbar network.

HI-UX/MPP provides an interface that allows the entire HI-UX/MPP system to be handled as one system. Since only the microkernel is installed in PUs, which requires only a minimum of memory space, application programs can use larger portion of memory. System calls from the user program on a PU are handed from the microkernel to Server on the IOU or SIOU, and executed by Server. With such cooperation between the microkernel and Server, the entire HI-UX/MPP system can be handled as one system, allowing file input and output from a PU which does not have disks.

HI-UX/MPP Outline

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