Parallel I/O

Parallel I/O, in the context of a computer, means the performance of multiple input/output operations at the same time, for instance simultaneously outputs to storage devices and display devices. It is a fundamental feature of operating systems.

One particular instance is parallel writing of data to disk; when file data is spread across multiple disks, for example in a RAID array, one can store multiple parts of the data at the same time, thereby achieving higher write speeds than with a single device.

Other ways of parallel access to data include: Parallel Virtual File System, Lustre, GFS etc.