Birds of a Feather Archive

Analyzing Parallel I/O

Authors: Shane Snyder (Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Mathematics and Computer Science Division), Julian Kunkel (University of Göttingen; GWDG, Germany)

Abstract: Parallel I/O performance can be a critical bottleneck for applications, yet users are often ill-equipped for identifying and diagnosing I/O performance issues. Increasingly complex hierarchies of storage hardware and software deployed on many systems only compound this problem. Tools that can effectively capture, analyze, and tune I/O behavior for these systems empower users to realize performance gains for many applications.

In this BoF, we form a community around best practices in analyzing parallel I/O and cover recent advances to help address the problem presented above, drawing on the expertise of users, I/O researchers, and administrators in attendance.

Long Description: I/O performance has always been a critical bottleneck to the productivity of data-intensive applications, a problem exacerbated by the complex I/O subsystem designs utilized in modern computing facilities. Users are often overwhelmed by the scale and complexity of these systems and have limited insight into how to best tune their applications to most efficiently utilize them. Furthermore, this performance tuning process is often carried out on each distinct system an application uses as I/O performance has notorious portability problems. I/O monitoring tools can help users, administrators, and I/O researchers more effectively navigate this complexity by providing mechanisms for capturing, analyzing, and tuning I/O behavior on a given system.

The primary objectives of this BoF are to: 1) highlight recent advances in tools and techniques for monitoring I/O activity in data centers, 2) to discuss experiences and limitations of current approaches, 3) to discuss and derive a roadmap for future I/O tools with the goal to capture, assess, predict and optimize I/O.

The BoF has been organized at Supercomputing for a decade now, attracting speakers of well-respected organizations representing diverse professional backgrounds that are challenged by I/O performance analysis. This includes speakers from Government, Industry, and Academia.

The technical presentations target I/O software developers and researchers, facility administrators, but are also relevant for end-users. We provide various opportunities for the audience to interact with the speakers and to initiate discussions around the topics. We will collect surveys to assess the state of the field and post the results online along with all presentation materials.

URL: https://hps.vi4io.org/events/2022/sc-analyzing-io


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