High Performance Computing
Christopher J. Cameron, Steve Lantz
Cornell Center for Advanced Computing
Revisions: 3/2022, 9/2014 (original)
This topic explains fundamental high performance computing (HPC) concepts. While parallel programming is important in many areas, parallelization is absolutely essential to use supercomputing hardware effectively.
Objectives
After you complete this topic, you should be able to:
- Define the terms high performance computing and high throughput computing
- Describe the elements of Flynn's taxonomy
- Define the terms nodes, clusters and jobs
- Compare the features of supercomputer installations to cloud-based HPC services
Prerequisites
This topic assumes a basic familiarity with personal computer terminology.