Many/370: A parallel computer prototype for I/O intensive applications

Abstract

This article is an overview of Many/370, an IBM System/370 parallel processor prototype built for I/O-mtensive applications. The prototype consists of 8 processor nodes, 128 small disk drives, and a host computer. The nodes have a high performance disk I/O capability which distinguishes Many/370 from other multiprocessors. The eight nodes and the host are interconnected by a non-blocking switch, and they communicate using extensions of the System/370 instruction set. Each node has a disk adapter attached to it. The disk adapter has 4 separate SCSI buses and it controls 16 disk drives. The disk adapter performs the functions a System/370 channel and a control unit.