Pooch 1.7 Supports Universal Clustering
Pooch Supports Launching Universal Applications on Clusters Running Mac OS X
Huntington Beach, CA, USA – May 17, 2006 – The Pooch family goes Universal!
Dauger Research, Inc., announces version 1.7 of Pooch (Parallel OperatiOn
and Control Heuristic application) and Pooch Pro clustering software. Pooch
technology becomes the first and only clustering solution to launch
Universal Applications in parallel. While still retaining full backwards
compatibility, Pooch also introduces new features, including a new Job file
format, new head- node and job retrieval features to take advantage of
clusters configured Linux-style, more flexible multiprocessing support, and
enhancements to its AppleScript interface. Combining the best of cluster
and grid computing, Pooch technology is the only solution that merges a
modern graphical user interface with supercomputer- compatible parallel
computing.
“The award-winning Pooch family provides the easiest, most reliable, and
most powerful path to ‘ad hoc’ clustering”, said Dr. Dean Dauger, President
of Dauger Research, Inc. “In true Macintosh style, we are proud to announce
that Pooch and Pooch Pro are Universal and our innovative technology is the
first to support Universal Clustering, bringing the best and most flexible
user experience to supercomputer- compatible clusters.”
“Mac OS X has proven itself as a strong platform for scientific
clustering,” said Ron Okamoto, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide
Developer Relations. “The combination of Mac OS X and Pooch 1.7 will help
scientific researchers take advantage of the power of the Intel- based Macs
for their clustering solutions.”
Winner of IEEE Cluster’s “most innovative” award, Pooch software combines
powerful, numerically-intensive parallel-computing clusters with the famed
ease-of-use of the Macintosh. Version 1.7 introduces a new Job file format
so users can easily save and reload jobs, with OS X-compliant navigation
sheets, and commonly used file and node combinations to make their cluster
usage workflow more efficient and productive. These file types are
searchable via Spotlight on OS X “Tiger”. The new Pooch also explicitly
supports clusters configured with a head node protecting compute nodes as a
firewall and NAT router in a Linux-style network topology. Configured for
head node use, Pooch can launch jobs onto such a cluster, check its status,
and retrieve jobs via the head node. The new version also enhances its
multiprocessing support by enabling users to customize the “virtual node”
count for any individual node, including Intel Core’s. Finally, the new
Pooch, itself a Universal Application, debuts support for launching
parallelized Universal Applications onto a cluster, the first and only
clustering solution to do so.
Enriching the user experience of supercomputer-compatible cluster
computing, the Pooch family builds on productivity enhancements, including
“playlist”-like node lists and network tools, a Grid job type for
distributed launching of many single-processor executables with point and
click. Pooch supports all execution environments (Carbon, Cocoa, Mach-O,
Classic, Unix script, AppleScript, and now Universal) available on current
Apple hardware and supports five distinct implementations of the
Message-Passing Interface (MPI) industry standard. Pooch leverages major
Tiger technologies, including Dashboard where it reports the status of the
cluster’s job activity in an aesthetically pleasing environment and Bonjour
for automatic node configuration and discovery.
The recently introduced Dauger Research Vault presents eight tutorials
extensively describing how to develop parallel applications and algorithms.
Users can access tutorials outlining the different types of parallel
computing, detailed MPI information, and descriptions, with example code in
Fortran and C, of the basics of writing parallel code. Visitors to the web
site can download GUI and command-line installers containing a trial Pooch,
updated sample parallel applications and source code, an updated Pooch
Software Development Kit, and full documentation. Dauger Research makes it
easier than ever to write, develop, and run your parallel code today.
Dauger Research makes Pooch and Pooch Pro v1.7 available today. Updates are
shipping to Pooch users whose subscriptions are active.
Pooch v1.7 is available for US$175 for the first compute node then US $125
for each node thereafter. Pooch Pro v1.7 is available for US$200 for the
first compute node then US$150 for each node thereafter. Users may order
Pooch and other software using the forms on our web site or online through
the Dauger Research Store. See the web site for special academic pricing.
Pooch requires networked Macintoshes and/or Xserves running Mac OS 9 with
CarbonLib 1.2 or later, Mac OS X 10.2 or later, and/or Mac OS X Server 10.2
or later with 4 MB of available RAM and 2 MB of disk space. Pooch Pro
requires Mac OS X 10.2 or later, and/or Mac OS X Server 10.2 or later.
Profiled and honored on national television by the William Shatner- hosted
“Keeping America Strong” show, Dauger Research, Inc. makes high-performance
computation and visualization easy to use and accessible to users. Our
award-winning team, to better accomplish our scientific goals, reinvented
the cluster computer in 1998, pioneering easy-to-use, high-performance
clusters. Dauger Research, Inc., is committed to bridging the divides
between the scientifically and technically complex and the mainstream.
