Principles and practice of experimental performance measurement and analysis of parallel applications

ABSTRACT

Application developers are facing new and more complicated performance tuning and optimization problems as architectures become more complex. In order to achieve reasonable performance on these systems, HPC users need help from performance analysis tools. In this tutorial we will introduce the principles of experimental performance instrumentation, measurement, and analysis, with an overview of the major issues, techniques, and resources in performance tools development, as well as an overview of the performance measurement tools available from vendors and research groups. In addition, we will discuss cutting edge issues, such as automatic performance analysis and analysis of grid applications. Our goals are twofold: first, we will provide background information about methods and techniques for performance measurement and analysis, including practical tricks and tips, so that you can exploit available tools effectively and efficiently. Second, you will learn about simple portable techniques for measuring the performance of your parallel application.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.1 PROGRAMMING TECHNIQUES
      D.1.3 Concurrent Programming
          Subjects: Parallel programming

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.5 Testing and Debugging
      D.2.8 Metrics
          Subjects: Performance measures

General Terms:
Design, Management, Verification