Data sets in large applications such as databases and data-mining applications are often too large to fit into a computer’s internal memory. The resulting I/O (input/output) communications between internal memory and the slower external medium (such as disks) can present a major performance bottleneck.

Among the possible computer architectural solutions to this problem are cluster computing platforms, which are collections of non dedicated systems (for example, PCs) based on low cost hardware, and these present themselves as affordable and suitable I/O systems.

The aim of this publication is to present recent theoretical and practical advances that will assist potential new users and more experienced users in having a greater understanding of the subject of I/O management. The first part of the book introduces selected topics and a number of effective solutions in different subtopics of the field. The second part presents five research studies contributed by specialist researchers in the field, located mainly in Europe and the USA.

About the Editors

Christophe Cérin is Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Picardie Jules Verne, France. He is a member of LaRIA (Laboratoire de Recherche en Informatique d`Amiens) and works with a team on parallel I/O systems. Dr Cérin is involved with different research programs including CGP2P, devoted to grid computing, and GRAPPE, devoted to cluster computing. He has published over 25 research papers and continues research work covering parallel I/O, experimental parallel algorithms for heterogeneous systems, memory hierarchy problems, and storage challenges for grid systems.

Hai Jin is Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in China. Dr Jin is a member of IEEE and ACM, and he is also the executive member and region coordinator of the IEEE Task Force on Cluster Computing (TFCC). He has served as program committee for more than 30 international conferences/workshops. The co-author of four books, Dr Jin has published over 50 research papers and has ongoing research interests in parallel I/O, high performance storage systems, cluster computing and grid computing, network security, and fault tolerance.