workstation Archives - Microway

Estimating the Performance of a New Computer System

microway — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 03:36:08 +0000

Transistor density doubles every ~2 years. Ideally, this means we can provide you computers that contain twice as much memory and perform twice as fast. In practice, it’s much more nuanced.

Benchmark Your Application

The best performance comparison will always be benchmark testing of the application(s) that will run on your computer. You can check with your software vendor to determine if they have a list of such benchmarks results. In our experience, most software vendors don’t have the resources to maintain such lists (or they are several years out of date).

If you’re willing, you may contact one of Microway’s technical experts to request a Test Drive. We can provide a remote log-in to one of our systems to demonstrate the performance increase. Certain scientific applications are pre-installed, so get in touch!

Alternatives to Benchmarking

If no benchmarks are published for your application(s), it’s still possible to find results tailored to your field. Read through the list of applications and problem descriptions below. If any are similar to your application, contact a Microway representative to learn what speedups you should expect.

One of our representatives can also give you rough guidelines on the factors that have changed between the generation of hardware you’re currently using and the latest generation. For example, Intel Xeon CPUs released before 2012 typically completed four floating-point operations per clock cycle. With the release of CPUs supporting AVX, this increased to eight floating-point operations per cycle.

Industry-Standard CPU Performance Benchmarks – SPEC CPU2006

SPEC CPU2006 Benchmarks (Floating Point)

Application Area	Benchmark	Brief Description
CFD	LESlie3d	Large-Eddy Simulations with Linear-Eddy Model in 3D. Supports turbulence phenomena such as mixing, combustion, acoustics and general fluid mechanics. For SPEC, solve a subset of such flows, namely the temporal mixing layer. This type of flow occurs in the mixing regions of all combustors that employ fuel injection (which is nearly all combustors).
CFD	bwaves	Simulates blast waves in 3D transonic transient laminar viscous flow.
CFD	LBM	Implements the “Lattice-Boltzmann Method” to simulate incompressible fluids in 3D (computationally the most important part of a larger code which is used in the field of material science to simulate the behavior of fluids with free surfaces, in particular the formation and movement of gas bubbles in metal foams).
Computational Electromagnetics	GemsFDTD	Solves the Maxwell equations in 3D using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. For SPEC, the radar cross section (RCS) of a perfectly conducting (PEC) object is computed.
FEA	CalculiX	Finite element code for linear and nonlinear 3D structural applications. Uses the SPOOLES solver library to solve CrunchiX.
FEA	deal II	Program library targeted at adaptive finite elements and error estimation. For SPEC, solves a Helmholtz-type equation with non-constant coefficients in 3D (used for incompressible fluid flow, static or time-harmonic electromagnetics, static and quasi-static elasto-plasticity, general relativity, and implicit time stepping schemes for seismic, acoustic, and electromagnetic applications).
Image Ray-tracing	POVRAY	For SPEC, render a 1280×1024 anti-aliased image of a chessboard and abstract objects; all object surfaces are procedurally textured (e.g., Perlin noise function).
Linear Programming, Optimization	SoPlex	Solves a linear program using a simplex algorithm and sparse linear algebra. Test cases include railroad planning and military airlift models.
Molecular Dynamics	GROMACS	Simulates the Newtonian equations of motion for systems with hundreds to millions of particles. For SPEC, performs a simulation of the protein Lysozyme in a solution of water and ions (23,179 atoms).
Molecular Dynamics	NAMD	Simulates large biomolecular systems. For SPEC, simulates apolipoprotein A-I (92,224 atoms).
Quantum Chemistry	GAMESS	Supports a wide range of quantum chemical computations. For SPEC, self-consistent field (SCF) calculations are performed using the Restricted Hartree Fock method, Restricted open-shell Hartree-Fock, and Multi-Configuration SCF.
Quantum Chemistry	Tonto	Open source quantum chemistry package. The test case places a constraint on a molecular Hartree-Fock wavefunction calculation to better match experimental X-ray diffraction data.
Quantum Chromodynamics	MILC	A gauge field generating program for lattice gauge theory programs with dynamical quarks. For SPEC, the serial version of `su3imp` is used.
Physics / CFD	ZEUS-MP	A CFD code developed for the simulation of astrophysical phenomena (ideal, non-relativistic, hydrodynamics and magnetohydrodynamics, including externally applied gravitational fields and self-gravity). For SPEC, simulates a 3D blastwave with the presence of a uniform magnetic field along the x-direction.
Physics / General Relativity	CactusADM	Solves the Einstein evolution equations, which describe how spacetime curves as response to its matter content (a set of ten coupled nonlinear partial differential equations). A staggered-leapfrog numerical method is used to carry out the update.
Speech Recognition	Sphinx-3	A widely-known speech recognition system from Carnegie Mellon University.
Weather	WRF	next-generation mesocale numerical weather prediction system from scales of meters to thousands of kilometers. For SPEC, simulate a 30km area over 2 days.

Official SPEC CPU2006 Benchmarks (Floating Point) descriptions

SPEC CPU2006 Benchmarks (Integer)

Application Area	Benchmark	Brief Description
Artificial Intelligence	Sjeng	A highly-ranked chess program that also plays several chess variants. It attempts to find the best move via a combination of alpha-beta or priority proof number tree searches, advanced move ordering, positional evaluation and heuristic forward pruning.
Artificial Intelligence	gobmk	Plays the game of Go, a simply described but deeply complex game. The program plays Go and executes a set of commands to analyze Go positions.
C Compiler	gcc	Based on gcc Version 3.2 – generates code for an AMD Opteron processor.
Combinatorial Optimization	MCF	Vehicle scheduling. Uses a network simplex algorithm (which is also used in commercial products) to schedule public transport.
Compression	bzip2	Julian Seward’s bzip2 version 1.0.3, modified to do most work in memory, rather than doing I/O.
Discrete Event Simulation	OMNeT++	Uses the OMNet++ discrete event simulator to model a large Ethernet campus network (about 8000 computers and 900 switches/hubs).
Gene Sequence Search	HMMER	Protein sequence analysis using profile hidden Markov models (profile HMMs). Used in computational biology to search for patterns in DNA sequences.
Path-finding	A-star	Pathfinding library for 2D maps, including the well known A* algorithm.
Physics / Quantum Computing	libquantum	Simulates a quantum computer, running Shor’s polynomial-time factorization algorithm.
Programming Language	perlbench	Derived from Perl V5.8.7. The workload includes SpamAssassin, MHonArc (an email indexer), and specdiff (SPEC’s tool that checks benchmark outputs).
Video Compression	H264ref	A reference implementation of H.264/AVC – encodes a videostream using 2 parameter sets. The H.264/AVC standard has largely replaced the older MPEG2 standard.
XML Processing	Xalan-C++	Transforms XML documents to other document types (100 MB test data).

Official SPEC CPU2006 Benchmarks (Integer) descriptions

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Common Maintenance Tasks (Workstations and Servers)

microway — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 02:58:28 +0000

The following items should be completed to maintain the health of your workstation or server. For compute clusters, please see Common Maintenance Tasks (Clusters).

Backup non-replaceable data

Remember that RAID is not a replacement for backups. If your system is stolen, hacked or started on fire, your data will be gone forever. Automate this task or you will forget.

For many groups, a weekly or monthly cron job is fine. Write a script calling rsync or tar which writes the files to a separate server, NAS or SAN. Place the script in /etc/cron.weekly/ or /etc/cron.monthly/
Users with more complex requirements should look at AMANDA or Bacula
Tape backup systems are still available for those who prefer them. Contact us.

Verify the health of the drive arrays (RAIDs)

Drive sectors can go bad silently. Scheduling regular verifies will weed out any issues before they occur. Automate them or you will forget.

Linux Software RAID (mdadm) arrays can be easily kicked into verify mode. Many distributions (Red Hat, CentOS, Ubuntu) come with their own utilities. To manually start a verify, run this line for each RAID (as root):
echo check > /sys/block/md#/md/sync_action
Watch the text file /proc/mdstat and the output of dmesg to watch the status of each verify.
Hardware RAID controllers provide their own methods for automated verifies and alert notification. Reference the controller’s manual.

Monitor system alarms and system health

Preferred: learn how to use the IPMI capability of your system for remote monitoring and management. You’ll spend a lot less time trekking to the datacenter.
Alternative: listen for system alarms and check for warning LEDs.

Don’t ignore alarms! If you put it off, you’ll soon find that something else is wrong and the system needs major repair.

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Power and Cooling (Single-Computer Installations)

microway — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 04:08:15 +0000

This article applies to computers which consume less than 1920 Watts of electricity. Review your quote or contact us to determine how much your system will require (the power and cooling numbers are typically listed at the end of the quote – below the total cost of the system).

Acoustic Considerations – Fan Noise

Most single computers can be powered and cooled within an office environment. However, some systems contain high-speed fans which generate loud noise. In some cases, an office worker may decide this is acceptable. In others, the noise may be subject to safety regulations (e.g., OSHA) and will be audible from other offices in the building.

Many of Microway’s workstations – most notably the WhisperStation – are designed to be very quiet and comfortable for an office environment. Other systems contain so many high-power components that they simply cannot be quietly cooled.

In contrast with other vendors, Microway does not re-brand servers as workstations. We will provide an honest assessment of system noise. If you have any concerns, discuss these matters with your salesperson. In general, if it’s not a WhisperStation you should consider whether the system is appropriate for an office environment.

Power

Most single Microway computers can be powered from a standard wall outlet. For groups of computers, there are better options than those listed below – see Power and Cooling for Multiple Computers.

Home / Small Office Electrical Outlets

These power outlets provide 15 Amps at 120V and are designated NEMA 5-15. After a 20% de-rating for safety, the NEMA 5-15 can supply up to 1440 Watts of power.

There are several cases when 15A 120V outlets are not sufficient:

Other equipment is already connected to the electrical circuit. It is common for multiple outlets to connect to the same circuit, so don’t assume that an empty outlet means power is available. You will need to perform an inventory of the power required by your existing equipment.
You would like to provide a backup power solution (UPS) and the system consumes more than 1000 Watts.
Servers with more than four GPU accelerators or coprocessors will consume more than 1440 Watts.
Your system is a Twin or Blade server which actually contains multiple computers. These systems almost always consume more than 1440 Watts.

Commercial Electrical Outlets

These power outlets provide 20 Amps at 120V and are designated NEMA 5-20. After a 20% de-rating for safety, the NEMA 5-20 can supply up to 1920 Watts of power.

This type of outlet is common in office buildings, medical centers and universities, but is not universal. Double-check to be certain your area actually has this type of power circuit. Also verify that it is not designated for special purposes, such as emergency power.

Although this outlet should be sufficient for almost all systems, consider:

Other equipment may already be connected to the electrical circuit. It is common for multiple outlets to connect to the same circuit, so don’t assume that an empty outlet means power is available. You will need to perform an inventory of the power required by your existing equipment.
Servers with more than four GPU accelerators or coprocessors may consume more than 1920 Watts.
If this is a Blade chassis with multiple computers, it will consume more than 1920 Watts.

Cooling

Systems in this category can typically be run without special cooling arrangements – the building air-conditioning will be able to keep up with the load.

Note that some facilities reduce or shut down air-conditioning during holidays and weekends. Many systems will overheat if they are run in a closed room without sufficient cooling. You may need to make special arrangements.

To be certain, present the cooling requirements (provided by your salesperson) to your facilities manager. Your facilities personnel should be able to determine if issues will occur.

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