<s>
A	O
GPU	B-Operating_System
cluster	I-Operating_System
is	O
a	O
computer	B-Architecture
cluster	I-Architecture
in	O
which	O
each	O
node	O
is	O
equipped	O
with	O
a	O
Graphics	B-Architecture
Processing	I-Architecture
Unit	I-Architecture
(	O
GPU	B-Architecture
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
harnessing	O
the	O
computational	O
power	O
of	O
modern	O
GPUs	B-Architecture
via	O
General-Purpose	B-Architecture
Computing	I-Architecture
on	I-Architecture
Graphics	I-Architecture
Processing	I-Architecture
Units	I-Architecture
(	O
GPGPU	B-Architecture
)	O
,	O
very	O
fast	O
calculations	O
can	O
be	O
performed	O
with	O
a	O
GPU	B-Operating_System
cluster	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
hardware	O
classification	O
of	O
GPU	B-Operating_System
clusters	I-Operating_System
fall	O
into	O
two	O
categories	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Hardware	O
from	O
both	O
of	O
the	O
major	O
IHV	B-Device
's	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
(	O
AMD	O
and	O
nVidia	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
if	O
different	O
models	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
GPU	B-Architecture
are	O
used	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
8800GT	O
mixed	O
with	O
8800GTX	O
)	O
the	O
GPU	B-Operating_System
cluster	I-Operating_System
is	O
considered	O
heterogeneous	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Every	O
single	O
GPU	B-Architecture
is	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
hardware	O
class	O
,	O
make	O
,	O
and	O
model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Classifying	O
a	O
GPU	B-Operating_System
cluster	I-Operating_System
according	O
to	O
the	O
above	O
semantics	O
largely	O
directs	O
software	O
development	O
on	O
the	O
cluster	O
,	O
as	O
different	O
GPUs	B-Architecture
have	O
different	O
capabilities	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
utilized	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
computer	O
nodes	O
and	O
their	O
respective	O
GPUs	B-Architecture
,	O
a	O
fast	O
enough	O
interconnect	O
is	O
needed	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
shuttle	O
data	O
amongst	O
the	O
nodes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
examples	O
of	O
interconnects	O
include	O
Gigabit	O
Ethernet	O
and	O
InfiniBand	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
NVIDIA	O
provides	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
dedicated	O
Tesla	O
Preferred	O
Partners	O
(	O
TPP	O
)	O
with	O
the	O
capability	O
of	O
building	O
and	O
delivering	O
a	O
fully	O
configured	O
GPU	B-Operating_System
cluster	I-Operating_System
using	O
the	O
Tesla	O
20-series	O
GPGPUs	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
AMAX	O
Information	O
Technologies	O
,	O
Dell	O
,	O
Hewlett-Packard	O
and	O
Silicon	O
Graphics	O
are	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
few	O
companies	O
that	O
provide	O
a	O
complete	O
line	O
of	O
GPU	B-Operating_System
clusters	I-Operating_System
and	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
components	O
that	O
are	O
required	O
to	O
make	O
many	O
GPU-equipped	O
machines	O
act	O
as	O
one	O
include	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
GPU	B-Architecture
driver	O
for	O
the	O
each	O
type	O
of	O
GPU	B-Architecture
present	O
in	O
each	O
cluster	O
node	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clustering	O
API	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Message	B-Application
Passing	I-Application
Interface	I-Application
,	O
MPI	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mapping	O
an	O
algorithm	O
to	O
run	O
a	O
GPU	B-Operating_System
cluster	I-Operating_System
is	O
somewhat	O
similar	O
to	O
mapping	O
an	O
algorithm	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
a	O
traditional	O
computer	B-Architecture
cluster	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Example	O
:	O
rather	O
than	O
distributing	O
pieces	O
of	O
an	O
array	O
from	O
RAM	O
,	O
a	O
texture	O
is	O
divided	O
up	O
amongst	O
the	O
nodes	O
of	O
the	O
GPU	B-Operating_System
cluster	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
