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Parallel Virtual Machine
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<p>Parallel Virtual Machine (PVM) is a <a href="/facts/Computer_software/RP79lVSW">software</a> tool for parallel networking of <a href="/facts/Computer/SQe1aK05">computers</a>. It is designed to allow a <a href="/facts/Computer_network/3w5RM99p">network</a> of heterogeneous Unix and/or Windows machines to be used as a single distributed <a href="/facts/Parallel_processor/nQzcpzQt">parallel processor</a>. Thus large computational problems can be solved more cost effectively by using the aggregate power and memory of many computers. The software is very portable; the source code, available free through <a href="/facts/Netlib/4QQJ2DKk">netlib</a>, has been compiled on everything from <a href="/facts/Laptop/3EFwTAb2">laptops</a> to <a href="/facts/Cray/coAlupuy">Crays</a>. </p><p>PVM enables users to exploit their existing computer hardware to solve much larger problems at less additional cost. PVM has been used as an educational tool to teach <a href="/facts/Parallel_programming/nQzcpzQt">parallel programming</a> but has also been used to solve important practical problems. It was developed by the <a href="/facts/University_of_Tennessee/V28AVeaU">University of Tennessee</a>, <a href="/facts/Oak_Ridge_National_Laboratory/Elq84HKF">Oak Ridge National Laboratory</a> and <a href="/facts/Emory_University/Qbjn5830">Emory University</a>. The first version was written at ORNL in 1989, and after being rewritten by University of Tennessee, version 2 was released in March 1991. Version 3 was released in March 1993, and supported <a href="/facts/Fault_tolerance/rasrYlJk">fault tolerance</a> and better <a href="/facts/Portability_(computer_science)/7s6tFs8B">portability</a>. </p><p>PVM was a step towards modern trends in <a href="/facts/Distributed_processing/o5nyhqTF">distributed processing</a> and <a href="/facts/Grid_computing/2GQhzN5l">grid computing</a> but has, since the mid-1990s, largely been supplanted by the much more successful <a href="/facts/Message_Passing_Interface/BEuBgDpm">MPI</a> standard for message passing on parallel machines. PVM is <a href="/facts/Free_software/IaoVtJXn">free software</a>, released under both the <a href="/facts/BSD_License/XLtmLp5x">BSD License</a> and the <a href="/facts/GNU_General_Public_License/S75KhLSX">GNU General Public License</a>. </p>