What is a Parallel Virtual Machine?
A parallel virtual machine is a software application that allows multiple independent computers, spread out geographically to connect to each other as a network and lend their system processing power and memory to one application. The shift in manufacturing costs and the popularity of the home computer has resulted in an increase in the affordability of very powerful computers in the consumer market. These machines are underutilized with their standard software applications, leaving a wealth of processing power free. Parallel virtual machine software allows these resources to be pooled and accessed to solve large, complex scientific, medical or industrial problems. The parallel virtual machine was first created in 1989 at Oak Ridge National Labs by Al Geist. Based on the work there, the project was expanded at the University of Tennessee in March 1991 and has grown steadily ever since. A parallel virtual machine system has two parts, the application that sits on the individual machines
