High-performance remote data access for remote visualization

Visualization of remote data needs software that is fundamentally designed for distributed processing and high-speed networks. Motivated by and following the requirements of a distributed visualization application, this article describes the design and implementation of a fast and configurable remote data access system called eavivdata. Because wide-area networks may have a high latency, the remote data access system uses an architecture that effectively hides latency. Four remote data access architectures are analyzed and the results show that an architecture that combines bulk and pipeline processing is the best solution for high-throughput remote data access. The resulting system, also supporting high-speed transport protocols and configurable remote operations, is up to 400 times faster than a comparable existing remote data access system.