nodesets

A nodeset is a collection of nodes drawn from a larger structure such as a graph, a network, or a computing cluster. It represents a subset of the available nodes for analysis, operation, or allocation, and is typically described by the identifiers of the nodes it contains.

In graph theory, a nodeset is simply a subset of the vertex set V. It can be used to form a subgraph consisting of the nodes in the set and any edges between them. Nodesets support various analyses, such as examining induced subgraphs, connectivity, or clustering properties.

In distributed computing and high-performance computing, a nodeset refers to a group of compute nodes assigned to a job or service. Resource managers and schedulers use node sets to express allocation constraints, affinity, fault domains, or segmentation of workloads. Nodesets can be static or dynamic as the underlying cluster changes.

Notation and representation commonly treat a nodeset as a set or list of node identifiers. Set operations—union, intersection, and difference—facilitate grouping and exclusion. In practice, nodesets may be expressed using lists, vectors, or bitsets, depending on performance and scale considerations.

Applications of nodesets include algorithm design on graphs, network analysis, parallel computation, and security or fault-tolerance planning through segmentation. Examples include a graph with nodes {a, b, c, d} and a nodeset {a, c}, forming the induced subgraph on those nodes, or an HPC job requesting a nodeset of 16 compute nodes for parallel execution.

See also: vertex set, subgraph, partition, cluster resource management.