Performance Prediction of Parallel Programs in a Linux Environment

Abstract: Context. Today’s parallel systems are widely used in different computational tasks. Developing parallel programs to make maximum use of the computing power of parallel systems is tricky and efficient tuning of parallel programs is often very hard. Objectives. In this study we present a performance prediction and visualization tool named VPPB for a Linux environment, which had already been introduced by Broberg et.al, [1] for a Solaris2.x environment. VPPB shows the predicted behavior of a multithreaded program using any number of processors and the behavior is shown on two different graphs. The prediction is based on a monitored uni-processor execution. Methods. An experimental evaluation was carried out to validate the prediction reliability of the developed tool. Results. Validation of prediction is conducted, using an Intel multiprocessor with 8 processors and PARSEC 2.0 benchmark suite application programs. The validation shows that the speed-up predictions are +/-7% of a real execution. Conclusions. The experimentation of the VPPB tool showed that the prediction of VPPB is reliable and the incurred overhead into the application programs is low.