Message Passing Interface (MPI) Overview

Message Passing Interface (MPI) is a standard for writing message-passing programs. MPI itself is not a language. It defines a library interface, aimed at establishing a practical and easy-to-use standard for message passing. There are several implementations of MPI, such as Open MPI and MVAPICH.

MPI libraries on Discovery

These are the current versions of Open MPI, MVAPICH, and MPICH that are available on Discovery as modules.

openmpi/4.1.0-zen2-gcc10.1 openmpi/4.1.0-amd-intel2021 openmpi/4.0.5-skylake-gcc7.3 openmpi/4.1.0-gcc10.1-cuda11.2 openmpi/4.0.4-amd-intel2020u2 openmpi/4.0.5 openmpi/4.0.5-skylake-gcc10.1 openmpi/4.0.3-cuda mpich/3.3.2-skylake-gcc7.3 mvapich2/2.3.4-intel2020

Use the module show command to view information about the compilers you need to use with these libraries and if they support InfiniBand (IB) or not. For example, module show openmpi/4.1.0-zen2-gcc10.1.

For assistance with getting started with using MPI or troubleshooting using MPI libraries on Discovery, reach out to us at rchelp@northeastern.edu or schedule a consultation with one of our team members.