SimGrid explained

is a framework for simulating applications on distributed computing systems.^[1] It provides high-level programming language tools for comparing, evaluating, analyzing, and prototyping algorithms across different platforms. SimGrid has been used to conduct experimental simulations in multiple domains, including cluster computing, grid computing, heuristics and peer-to-peer (P2P) computing.

is distributed as freeware under the GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1 (LGPL-2.1-only).^{[2] [3]}

History

SimGrid started in 1999 as a joint research project between Henry Casanova and Arnaud Legrand from the University of California, San Diego and École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, respectively.^[4] The original design was only used for simulating the scheduling of heuristics for heterogeneous platforms.

SimGrid has received funding from national and international research agencies and has evolved through various projects, including SONGS, USS-SimGrid, and ASTR.^[5]

APIs and models

SimGrid supports multiple programming languages, including C++ and Python, through models and APIs.

SimGrid provides tools for analyzing scheduling, resource allocation, fault tolerance, and other aspects of distributed computing through four distinct interfaces:^[6]

• Simulation Directed Acyclic Graphs simulates execution of DAGs, including specified tasks, dependencies, scheduling resources, and interaction with the environment. It allows users to add tasks, specify dependencies, and interact with the environment.
• Meta Scheduling Grid is used for solving constraint satisfaction problems.
• Grid Reality and Simulation simulates deployable distributed applications.
• Simulated Message Passing Interface (SMPI) simulates MPI applications.

Release history

See also

• BIGSIM
• Directed Acyclic Graph
• Cloud computing
• CloudSim

Further reading

• Book: Velho . Pedro . Legrand . Arnaud . Proceedings of the Second International ICST Conference on Simulation Tools and Techniques . Accuracy study and improvement of network simulation in the SimGrid framework . 3 March 2009 . 10.4108/ICST.SIMUTOOLS2009.5592 . 978-963-9799-45-5 . en.
• Book: Lebre . Adrien . Legrand . Arnaud . Suter . Frédéric . Veyre . Pierre . Adding Storage Simulation Capacities to the SimGrid Toolkit: Concepts, Models, and API . 2015 15th IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Cluster, Cloud and Grid Computing . May 2015 . 251–260 . 10.1109/CCGrid.2015.134 . 978-1-4799-8006-2 . https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7152491 . 22 March 2025.
• Book: Ramamonjisoa . Charles Emile . Khodja . Lilia Ziane . Laiymani . David . Giersch . Arnaud . Couturier . Raphaël . Simulation of Asynchronous Iterative Algorithms Using SimGrid . 2014 IEEE Intl Conf on High Performance Computing and Communications, 2014 IEEE 6th Intl Symp on Cyberspace Safety and Security, 2014 IEEE 11th Intl Conf on Embedded Software and Syst (HPCC,CSS,ICESS) . August 2014 . 890–895 . 10.1109/HPCC.2014.155 . 978-1-4799-6123-8 .
• Frincu . Marc-Eduard . Quinson . Martin . Suter . Frédéric . Handling Very Large Platforms with the New SimGrid Platform Description Formalism . [Technical Report] RT-0348 . 2008 . 27 . 22 March 2025 . . en.

External links

• SimGrid Home – official project homepage
• Reference publication: H. Casanova, A. Giersch, A. Legrand, M. Quinson, and F. Suter, “Versatile, Scalable, and Accurate Simulation of Distributed Applications and Platforms,” Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing, vol. 74, no. 10, pp. 2899 – 2917, 2014.

Notes and References

1. Henri . Casanova . A Toolkit for the Simulation of Application Scheduling . First IEEE International Symposium on Cluster Computing and the Grid (CCGrid'01) . 430–441 . May 2001 . Brisbane, Australia . 10.1109/CCGRID.2001.923223 .
2. Web site: 2010-11-27 . LICENSE-LGPL-2.1 · master · simgrid / simgrid · GitLab . 2025-03-19 . GitLab . en.
3. Web site: simgrid/COPYING at master · simgrid/simgrid . 2025-05-14 . GitHub . en .
4. Web site: SimGrid History . 2025-04-20 . simgrid.org.
5. Web site: Overview - SIMGRID - IN2P3-Forge . 2025-05-01 . forge.in2p3.fr.
6. Casanova . Henri . Legrand . Arnaud . Quinson . Martin . March 4, 2008 . SimGrid: a Generic Framework for Large-Scale Distributed Experiments . https://web.archive.org/web/20240521110919/https://inria.hal.science/inria-00260697/en/ . usurped . May 21, 2024 . Inria . en . IEEE . HAL Open Science.
7. Book: Arnaud Legrand . Henri Casanova . Loris Marchal . Scheduling distributed applications: The SimGrid simulation framework . CCGrid 2003. 3rd IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Cluster Computing and the Grid, 2003. Proceedings. . 2003 . IEEE . Tokyo, Japan . 138–145 . 10.1109/CCGRID.2003.1199362 . 0-7695-1919-9 . This paper focuses on SimGrid v2, which greatly improves on the first version of the software with more realistic network models and topologies. SimGrid v2 also enables the simulation of distributed scheduling agents, which has become critical for current scheduling research in large-scale platforms..
8. Web site: [inria-00631141, v1] Towards Scalable, Accurate, and Usable Simulations of Distributed Applications and Systems ]. webperso.info.ucl.ac.be . 8 May 2025.
9. Web site: SimGrid 4 Release Notes — SimGrid documentation . simgrid.org . 8 May 2025.
10. Web site: SimGrid 4.x Release Notes — SimGrid documentation . 2026-01-08 . simgrid.org.
11. Web site: SimGrid 4.x Release Notes — SimGrid documentation . 2026-01-08 . simgrid.org.
12. Web site: SimGrid 4.x Release Notes — SimGrid documentation . 2026-01-08 . simgrid.org.