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What is a parallel file system?

In a parallel file system (PFS), data is distributed not only across several disks but also multiple servers in order to increase the data access bandwidth. Most PFS’s are connected to the high-speed network of a cluster, and aggregated bandwidths in the TByte/s range are not uncommon. High bandwidth can, however, only be obtained with large files and streaming access.

For information on how to use a parallel file system on our clusters, please read our documentation on “Parallel file systems $FASTTMP“.