How can I call an executable to run on a separate machine within a program on my own machine (win xp)?

Question

My objective is to write a program which will call another executable on a separate computer(all with win xp) with parameters determined at run-time, then repeat for several more computers, and then collect the results. In short, I'm working on a grid-computing project. The algorithm itself being used is already coded in FORTRAN, but we are looking for an efficient way to run it on many computers at once.

I suppose one way to accomplish this would be to upload a script to each computer and then run said script on each computer, all automatically and dependent on my own parameters. But how can I write a program which will write to, upload, and run a script on a separate computer?

I had considered GridGain, but the algorithm is already coded and in a different language, so that is ruled out.

My current guess at accomplishing this task is using Expect (wiki/Expect), but I have no knowledge of the tool.

Any advice appreciated.

Answer 1

You can use PsExec for this:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897553.aspx

You could also look at the open source alternative RemCom:

http://rce.sourceforge.net/

It's actually pretty simple to write your own as well but RCE will show you how to do it if you want. Although, using PsExec may just suffice your needs.

Answer 2

Have a look into PVM, it was made for the type of situation you're describing, but you may have to annotate your existing codebase and/or implement a wrapper application.