What this book covers

Chapter 1, BeagleBone Black System Board, introduces you to the hardware and explains the handling and working principle of the BeagleBone Black system board. A very basic introduction to generic software programming is also provided.

Chapter 2, Building a Beowulf Cluster, shows you a step-by-step guide in order to build a super computer with only minimal hardware interconnecting several boards. The network interconnection and topology is explained in detail.

Chapter 3, Operating System Setup and Configuration, shows you exactly how to install the Ubuntu operating system used throughout this book. A step-by-step guide helps you configure the master and slave nodes, SSH, as well as basic developer tools. A simple method of data transfer between the cluster and an external computer is also shown.

Chapter 4, Parallel Computing with OpenMPI and ScaLAPACK, features the introduction and installation of the OpenMPI messaging system. This chapter provides the basis for scaling calculations of linear mathematical problems on the cluster nodes. This is shown with the popular library ScaLAPACK.

Chapter 5, Advanced Solving of General Equation Systems, enhances the previous chapter with advanced software libraries such as PETSc for linear and nonlinear problems as well as SLEPc for Eigenvalue problems. Example programs show you how to solve such equations on your cluster.

Chapter 6, Scientific and Technological Examples of Parallel Computing, shows you the final step in order to use deal.II, the highly sophisticated scientific finite element library for simulations and arbitrary dimensions. Example programs show you how to take your first steps in order to use this huge library to solve difficult equations with a state-of-the-art approach.

Appendix, References, gives a list of important links for various software and examples, which provide additional reference.