high-performance computing ➤
components: a benchmark suite, a power measurement tool, and power and performance prediction tool.
Benchmarks Te Adept benchmark suite is designed to test systems using simple operations to determine how efficiently it carries them out. Tere are several levels of benchmark with increasing complexity – from simple-operation nano benchmarks to full small applications. Micro and kernel-level benchmarks are also available, testing functions such as branch and jump statements, function calls, and I/O operations (micro) and basic linear algebra (BLAS) operations (including dot product, matrix-vector and matrix- matrix multiplication), 2D and 3D stencil computations, and a conjugate gradient solver (kernel). All benchmarks come in a number of
common implementations so that they can be used on a wide variety of systems. Te parallel programming models OpenMP and MPI, but also less commonly used models such as UPC or Erlang. A wrapper library has also been implemented to read the values of the RAPL (running average power limit) counters on supported Intel processors. Te benchmark suite is intended to
characterise systems and works in tandem with the Adept Power Measurement system to fully understand how the soſtware and hardware of a specific system are working together, to create a power profile.
Power measurement Te Adept Power Measurement system implements a finely-grained power infrastructure to discover how every component of a system uses power over a given time. Te system can take up to one million samples/second, highlighting power variations that coarser-grained power measurement tools will not detect. Tis enables researchers to study the impact of even small changes in either soſtware or hardware on power and energy consumption.
Adept system sensor boards used to test power consumption We are also able to measure power from
all components – even those outside the traditional power envelope typically measured by other measurement infrastructures. Te Adept system reads the current and voltage from the power lines that supply the components, such as CPU, memory, accelerator, or disc.
Performance and power prediction Te Adept Performance and Power Prediction tool is another major development from the project, and a natural follow-on from the power measurement tools already described. Tis tool uses detailed, fast profiling and statistical modelling techniques to examine a soſtware binary to predict how well a CPU and memory hierarchy system will perform, and how power efficient it will be – even if we do not have access to the system, or even if the system does not yet exist. Tis give us a powerful tool in the design
of new systems, as designers can see exactly how a given soſtware application will run on a theoretical system before it is built. We have specifically focused on improving this tool throughout the project to increase its accuracy and have created a prototype tool that allows us to explore the design space for smarter, cheaper, and more efficient systems, because a system’s performance and power behaviours can be matched to a specific workload.
CPU Power trace of SEISMO code 10 SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING WORLD
Sharing knowledge Te goal of the Adept project is to make it easier for soſtware developers and hardware designers to create more efficient systems, by removing to need for them to guess how the soſtware and hardware will perform together. Efficient design of efficient systems – this
THE TOOLS SUITE HAS THREE MAJOR COMPONENTS: A BENCHMARK SUITE, A POWER MEASUREMENT TOOL, AND A POWER AND PERFORMANCE PREDICTION TOOL
is the ultimate goal. Te Adept tools allow developers to make sensible decisions on new implementations based on real data, rather than guesswork and allows owners of existing systems to see where their efficiencies can be improved. Tis could be updating a power-hungry component, or switching to a different, more efficient implementation of soſtware. Advances made by the Adept project
are already being used in other ventures with energy efficiency aspects, such as the NEXTGenIO and ExaFLOW projects. Tese are both undertakings with the exascale goal in mind, and as such require a workable efficiency solution to meet their goals. We have seen interest in the Adept tools suite from a number of institutions and companies who are keen to explore them within their own environments. We have gathered a large amount of
knowledge within the project, as well as the tools required to share this knowledge with others. Te Adept operation may be ending, but the advances we have made could have significant implications for the high- performance computing community. l
Mirren White is project dissemination and exploitation officer at EPCC
www.scientific-computing.com
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