Visualizing the Five-dimensional Torus Network of the IBM Blue Gene/Q

Collin M. McCarthy, Katherine E. Isaacs, Abhinav Bhatele, Peer Timo Bremer, Bernd Hamann

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Understanding the interactions between a parallel application and the interconnection network over which it exchanges data is critical to optimizing performance in modern supercomputers. However, recent supercomputing architectures use networks that do not have natural low-dimensional representations, making them difficult to comprehend or visualize. In particular, high-dimensional torus networks are common and are used in four of the top ten supercomputers and eight of the top ten on the Graph500 list. We present a new visualization of five-dimensional torus networks. We use four connected views depicting the network at different levels of detail, allowing analysts to observe general large-scale traffic patterns while simultaneously viewing individual links or outliers in any specific section of the network. We demonstrate this approach by analyzing network traffic for a pF3D simulation running on the IBM Blue Gene/Q architecture, and show how it is both intuitive and effective for understanding and optimizing parallel application behavior.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings of VPA 2014
Subtitle of host publication1st Workshop on Visual Performance Analysis - held in conjunction with SC 2014: The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages24-27
Number of pages4
ISBN (Electronic)9781479970582
DOIs
StatePublished - 2014
Event1st Workshop on Visual Performance Analysis, VPA 2014 - New Orleans, United States
Duration: Nov 21 2014 → …

Publication series

NameProceedings of VPA 2014: 1st Workshop on Visual Performance Analysis - held in conjunction with SC 2014: The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis

Conference

Conference1st Workshop on Visual Performance Analysis, VPA 2014
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityNew Orleans
Period11/21/14 → …

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computational Theory and Mathematics
  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Software
  • Computer Science Applications

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