Suitable models for PGENESIS
Parallel Genesis is intended for problems in which a large number of processors can quickly perform a simulation that would take exceedingly long on a conventional serial computer. We anticipate two common situations where this would be true:
Large Networks - As network simulations become larger and more complex, they become slower, effectively limiting the size and types of networks that a researcher may model. With PGENESIS it is possible to distribute the network over many processors so that the network setup and simulation tasks are divided up among them.
Parameter Searching - There are circumstances when one would like to perform a simulation many times over while varying aspects of the model. Parameter searching is a prime example of this. With an automated method for searching out optimal parameter values, it is common for hundreds of simulations to be done without human intervention. Since these simulations are independent from one another, it is straightforward to parcel these out to a large number of processors so that the overall search time is reduced tremendously.