Arena - A run-time operating system for parallel applications

This paper presents the case for a run-time operating system to provide predictable and controllable resource management for parallel applications. Developments in compilers for parallel applications, which depend on analysis of program behaviour, require corresponding developments in predictable and controllable operating systemlevel resource management. A customisable system, Arena, is described which provides operating system-level resource management at user-level, where it is accessible to application and run-time system developers. This resource management is accessed via libraries, and effectively becomes part of the application run-time system. In such a system the application gets only the resource management that it needs. A low-policy hardware-dependent executive provides a lowlevel interface presenting an abstraction of processor hardware to the hardware-independent resource managers. The use of Arena on a Sparc-based distributed store multicomputer is described, and three parallel application areas being investigated on Arena are briefly discussed.