Cluster-based interactive volume rendering with Simian

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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
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