Performance Tuning with AIMS - An Automated Instrumentation and Monitoring System for Multicomputers
Jerry C. Yan · 1994
Whether a researcher is designing the “next parallel programming paradigm, another “scalable multiproces sor” or investigating resource allocation algorithms for multiprocessors, a facility that enables parallel program execution to be captured and displayed is invaluable. A sofhvare toolkit that facilitates performance evaluation of parallel applications on multiprocessors, the Automated Instrumentation and Monitoring System (AIMS), is de scribed in this paper. It has four major software compo nents: a source-code instrumentor, which automatically inserts event recorders into the application; a run-time performance-monitoring library, which collects performance data; a tracefile animation and analysis toolkit; and a trace post-processor which compensates for data collection overhead. We illustrate the process of pelformance tuning using AIMS with two examples. Currently, AIMS accepts FORTRAN and C parallel programs written for TMC’s CM-5, Intel’s iPSU860, iPSUDelta, Paragon, and HP workstations running PVM.