Third party applications do not have to be modified to run under PAX-2. The software also has a well defined system's interface for closely coupling custom applications into PAX-2. PAX-2 also provides for user allocation fairness, so a single person cannot tie up all of the networked resources. Extensive reporting capabilities are also provided.
The PAX-2 distribution includes the very popular GNU Make software. GNU Make was modified by VXM so users can now run GNU/PAX-2 as a parallel "distributed" make across multiple networked Silicon Graphics systems. The combination of GNU Make and PAX-2 significantly cuts down the time to build large applications. Working together, PAX-2 and GNU Make automatically seek out idle network machines and spread out a large application build across multiple nodes. GNU Make was changed in such a way that if PAX-2 is not present, Gnu Make runs as it normally would.
PAX-2 uses a client/server architecture. The software also comes in a fault-tolerant version, called PAX-2ft. In the event the machine on which the primary PAX-2 server is running fails, a backup PAX-2 server on a separate machine automatically takes over. PAX-2ft is especially useful as it can save work or results that otherwise would have been lost in the event of a systems failure.
A PAX-2 server license for SGI IRIX 5.0 costs $9,500. One server can handle upwards of 200 network nodes, depending upon network configuration. A license for a PAX-2ft replicated server costs $17900. An NT version that can also run on SGI MIPS-based systems is also being readied for release by VXM.
For further information contact: FRANCO VITALIANO Tel 617 267 2286 Fax 617 267 8920 email: 512 9988@MCImail.com VXM TECHNOLOGIES, INC. P.O. BOX 41, Boston, MA 02199
