About this document

This document is an introduction to usage of the Scyld cluster computing concept as modified for use within the NCSU environment. Although the NCSU modifications are minor and do not impact basic cluster functionality, it is important for user of a cluster to understand those modifications in order to gain maximum usability from the Scyld environment.

This document is not meant to be an introduction to how to use a clustered environment, nor is it meant to be an introduction to clustering in general. Throughout this document, I will assume that the reader has a baic familiarity with applications usage and with programming in a UNIX environment. Although I will go into some detail on the MPI API, the detail in this document will likely be be inadequate for you to begin programming in MPI without either prior experience or alternate references.

This document is divided into three main sections. The first section is the section you're reading now, which tells you what the rest of the document is about. The second section covers basic MPI programming in C, and the third section covers the NCSU customizations that allow non-MPI application usage in the NCSU Scyld environment.