@Article{dibble:sort, author = {Peter C. Dibble and Michael L. Scott}, title = {External Sorting on a Parallel Interleaved File System}, journal = {University of Rochester 1989--90 Computer Science and Engineering Research Review}, year = {1989}, later = {dibble:sort2}, keywords = {parallel I/O, sorting, merging, parallel file reference pattern, pario-bib}, comment = {Based on Bridge file system (see dibble:bridge). Parallel external merge-sort tool. Sort file on each disk, then do a parallel merge. The merge is serialized by the token-passing mechanism, but the I/O time dominates. The key is to keep disks busy constantly. Uses some read-ahead, write-behind to control fluctuations in disk request timing. Analytical analysis of the algorithm lends insight and matches well with the timings. Locality is a big win in Bridge tools.} }