AIMS - An Automated Instrumentation and Monitoring System

Abstract

AIMS is a software toolkit that facilitates performance evaluation of parallel applications on multiprocessors. It includes 1. xinstrument: a source-code instrumentor that supports Fortran77 and C message-passing programs written under two communication libraries: MPI and PVM. 2. monitor: a library of timestamping and trace-collection routines that run on the IBM SP-2, as well as networks of workstations (including Convex/HP Cluster, SparcStations, SGIs, and SGI/PowerChallenge connected by a LAN). 3. pc: a utility for removing monitoring overhead and its effects on the communication patterns as recorded on the tracefile. 4. Visualization/Analysis Toolkit: a tracefile animation and analysis toolkit: The tracefile contains event records of the program execution. After execution, it is collected and transferred to a graphics workstation where it can be analyzed and displayed by AIMS' visualization toolkits. AIMS provides four trace post-processing kernels to support, respectively, visualization/animation, text-based profiling, hierarchical performance tuning, and performance prediction. 5. atopg: a suite of compatibility tools that convert AIMS-generated traces into formats used by other performance-visualization tools, such as Pablo, ParaGraph, and certain AVS/Explorer modules. AIMS can be used to illustrate algorithm behavior, help analyze program execution and highlight problem areas that can then be modified to improve program execution.

DateOfInformation

Fri Mar 13 15:28:11 1998

Domain

Parallel Processing Tools!Execution and Performance Analyzers (including debuggers)

Keyword

performance analysis; performance visualization

Name

AIMS - An Automated Instrumentation and Monitoring System

TargetEnvironment

Currently, AIMS accepts FORTRAN and C parallel programs written using two message passing libraries: MPI and PVM. The platforms currently supported include the IBM SP2 and clusters of workstations such as sunSparcs, SGI, SGI/PowerChallenge and HP). Earlier versions supporting CMMD on TMC's CM-5, NX on Intel's Paragon are no longer supported but the source code can be made available through special arrangement. A version of AIMS supporting HPF is being developed in conjunction with Portland Group.

Webpage

http://science.nas.nasa.gov/Groups/Tools/Projects/AIMS/

ContactIs

Jerry Yan

Review Information

PTLIB Review of AIMS

Files

AIMS 3.7 source code
AIMS 3.7 man pages