ABSTRACT
To provide the high bus bandwidth needed to support multiple CPUs, Sequent uses a high-performance data bus tailored to multiprocessing. A surprisingly large number of applications can be converted from sequential to parallel algorithms and run in this parallel fashion. Consequently, Sequent computer systems are configurable and adaptable to changing requirements; they use standard I/O interfaces and can be expanded through the addition of software, CPUs, memory, or peripheral devices, and through incorporation in local- or wide-area computer networks. One focus of research is to understand in detail the performance of algorithms on shared memory parallel machines. Note that the Symmetry system architecture is designed to support both general-purpose, multiuser environments and dedicated, compute-intensive parallel applications. Parallel programs and ordinary sequential programs can run simultaneously on the same Symmetry system. The speed-up of a parallel algorithm is the ratio of the parallel algorithm with a sequential algorithm for the same problem.
