Algorithm-Dependant Method to Determine the Optimal Number of Computers in Parallel Virtual Machines

Presently computer networks are becoming common in every place, connecting from only a few to hundreds of personal computers or workstations. The idea of getting the most out of the computing power installed is not new and several studies showed that for long periods of the day most of the computers are in the idle state. The work herein refers to a study aiming to find, for a given algorithm, the number of processors that should be used in order to get the minimum processing time. To support the parallel execution the WPVM software was used, under a Windows NT network of personal computers.