Adaptive globally-synchronizing clock algorithm and its implementation on a Myrinet-based PC cluster

作     者：Liao, Cheng Martonosi, Margaret Clark, Douglas W. 

作者机构：Depts. of Comp. Sci. and Elec. Eng. Princeton University 

出 版 物：《Performance Evaluation Review》 (Perform Eval Rev)

年 卷 期：1999年第27卷第1期

页      面：200-201页

核心收录：

学科分类：08[工学] 0812[工学-计算机科学与技术（可授工学、理学学位）] 

主　　题：Computer networks Adaptive algorithms Computer workstations Parallel processing systems Personal computers Synchronization Clock synchronization 

摘      要：Fast commodity network-connected PC or workstation clusters are becoming more and more popular. This popularity can be attributed to their ability to provide high-performance parallel computing on a relatively inexpensive platform. An accurate global clock is invaluable for these systems, both for measuring network performance and coordinating distributed applications. Typically, however, these systems do not include dedicated clock synchronization support. Previous clock synchronization methods are not fully suitable to them, either due to their non-commodity hardware requirements or due to insufficient synchronized clock accuracy. In this paper we present and evaluate an adaptive clock synchronization algorithm. We have implemented and tested the algorithm on a Myrinet-based PC cluster. The algorithm has several important features. First, it does not require any extra hardware support. Second, we show that this algorithm places very low intrusion on the system and has a microsecond-level accuracy. Finally, our results indicate that adding the ability to adaptively adjust the clock s re-synchronization period causes almost no extra overhead while achieving a much better global clock accuracy.