Cluster-based interactive volume rendering with Simian

Update Item Information
Publication Type technical report
School or College College of Engineering
Department Computing, School of
Program Advanced Research Projects Agency
Creator Hansen, Charles D.
Other Author Gribble, Christiaan; Cavin, Xavier; Hartner, Mark
Title Cluster-based interactive volume rendering with Simian
Date 2003-09-03
Description Commodity-based computer clusters offer a cost-effective alternative to traditional largescale, tightly coupled computers as a means to provide high-performance computational and visualization services. The Center for the Simulation of Accidental Fires and Explosions (C-SAFE) at the University of Utah employs such a cluster, and we have begun to experiment with cluster-based visualization services. In particular, we seek to develop an interactive volume rendering tool for navigating and visualizing large-scale scientific datasets. Using Simian, an OpenGL volume renderer, we examine two approaches to cluster-based interactive volume rendering: (1) a ?cluster-aware? version of the application that makes explicit use of remote nodes through a message-passing interface, and (2) the unmodified application running atop the Chromium clustered rendering framework. This paper provides a detailed comparison of the two approaches by carefully considering the key issues that arise when parallelizing Simian. These issues include the richness of user interaction; the distribution of volumetric datasets and proxy geometry; and the degree of interactivity provided by the image rendering and compositing schemes. The results of each approach when visualizing two large-scale C-SAFE datasets are given, and we discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages that were considered when developing our cluster-based interactive volume rendering application.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Volume rendering; Simian
Language eng
Bibliographic Citation Gribble, Christiaan; Cavin, Xavier; Hartner, Mark; Hansen, Charles D. (2003). Cluster-based interactive volume rendering with Simian. UUCS-03-017.
Series University of Utah Computer Science Technical Report
Relation is Part of ARPANET
Rights Management ©University of Utah
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 230,697 bytes
Source University of Utah School of Computing
ARK ark:/87278/s6z03s8f
Setname ir_uspace
ID 702649
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6z03s8f