In this paper, we describe the design, implementation, and modeling of a runtime kernel to support the processor farm paradigm on multicomputers. We present a general topology-independent framework for obtaining performance models to predict the performance of the start-up, steady-state, and wind-down phases of a processor farm. An algorithm is described, which for any interconnection network determines a tree-structured subnetwork that optimizes farm performance. The analysis technique is applied to the important case of k-ary tree topologies. The models are compared with the measured performance on a variety of topologies using both constant and varied task sizes. Index Terms---Parallel programming paradigms, performance evaluation, processor farm, tree networks, message passing architecture, network flow, master-slave. ------------------------------ F ------------------------------ 1I NTRODUCTION HE major problems in parallel computation revolve around questions of ease of...