Introduction to Parallel Computing

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What is the main advantage of the Distributed Memory model over the Shared Memory model?

It is less expensive to design and produce distributed memory machines

Increasing the number of processors also increases the size of the memory proportionately (correct)

Processor communication is faster in the Distributed Memory model

Data races and deadlocks can be avoided during programming

Which of the following is a disadvantage of the Distributed Memory model?

Distributed memory machines are more complex and expensive to design and produce

Each processor can rapidly access its own memory without affecting the other processors' memory

Increasing the number of processors also increases the size of the memory proportionately

The programmer is responsible for establishing communication between processors (correct)

What is the main disadvantage of the Shared Memory model?

It is expensive to design and produce shared memory machines

Shared memory architectures are prone to data races and deadlocks

Adding more CPUs can increase traffic on the shared memory path

All of the above (correct)

In the Distributed Memory model, how do processors access remote data?

Processors must communicate with remote processors to access remote data (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of the communication network in the Distributed Memory model?

To enable communication between processors for accessing remote data (C) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is a key advantage of the Shared Memory model over the Distributed Memory model?

Shared memory avoids the need for programmer-managed communication (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the main advantage of using a message passing system over a shared memory system in parallel computing?

It allows for more efficient communication between processors by only sending messages to the processors that need the information. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the main challenge that arises as the number of processors in a parallel system increases?

The overall performance benefit of adding more processors becomes too small to justify the additional expense. (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of the 'message passing system' described in the text?

To allow processors to communicate by sending messages to each other instead of using shared memory. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the benefit of using a 'message passing system' over a 'shared memory' approach in parallel computing?

It allows for more efficient communication by only sending messages to the processors that need the information. (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the main reason that the performance benefit of adding more processors to a parallel system becomes too small to justify the additional expense?

The communication time between processors increases. (A) Signup and view all the answers

How does a 'message passing system' differ from a 'shared memory' approach in parallel computing?

In a message passing system, processors send messages to each other, while in a shared memory system they access a common memory pool. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the main goal of parallel computing?

To use multiple processing elements simultaneously to solve a problem (C) Signup and view all the answers

How does a serial computing system differ from a parallel computing system?

Parallel systems have just one processor (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the advantage of parallel computing over serial computing systems?

Parallel systems can have many processors working simultaneously (B) Signup and view all the answers

How does the central processor in a parallel computing system assign work to different processors?

By assigning each processor different parts of the problem (A) Signup and view all the answers

What role does communication play in parallel computing?

It allows processors to report results back to the central processor (C) Signup and view all the answers

Why is parallel computing emerging as a prevalent computing paradigm?

Because of the semiconductor industry's shift to multi-core processors (D) Signup and view all the answers