Cray cascade: a scalable HPC system based on a Dragonfly network

Higher global bandwidth requirement for many applications and lower network cost have motivated the use of the Dragonfly network topology for high performance computing systems. In this paper we present the architecture of the Cray Cascade system, a distributed memory system based on the Dragonfly [1] network topology. We describe the structure of the system, its Dragonfly network and the routing algorithms. We describe a set of advanced features supporting both mainstream high performance computing applications and emerging global address space programing models. We present a combination of performance results from prototype systems and simulation data for large systems. We demonstrate the value of the Dragonfly topology and the benefits obtained through extensive use of adaptive routing.