1. Distributed fitness-evaluation Part I.
The computation
of individual fitness-values for creatures (phenotypes)
occurs in parallel in a network of 1 + 16 LINUX
PCs. The 16 machines that compute the latter fitnessvalues
are called the remote machines in what follows.
The Network File System (NFS) protocol
is used to enable the main machine to mount disk partitions
on the remote machines as if they were local
disks on the main machine and, consequently, allows
for fast, seamless sharing of files across our laboratory
network. The main machine distributes the family of creatures to the remote
machines after it applies mutation
and crossover by posting individual creatures in
distinct directories associated with distinct remote machines.
Then, every remote machine evaluates the assigned
creature and returns the fitness value to the main
machine for selection.