Dynamic program instrumentation for scalable performance tools
| Title | Dynamic program instrumentation for scalable performance tools |
| Publication Type | Conference Papers |
| Year of Publication | 1994 |
| Authors | Hollingsworth J, Miller BP, Cargille J |
| Conference Name | Scalable High-Performance Computing Conference, 1994., Proceedings of the |
| Date Published | 1994/05// |
| Publisher | IEEE |
| ISBN Number | 0-8186-5680-8 |
| Keywords | Application software, binary image, compiler writing, Computer architecture, Computer displays, Computerized monitoring, Concurrent computing, data acquisition, data collection, data visualisation, Data visualization, dynamic program instrumentation, efficient monitoring, executing program, Instruments, large-scale parallel applications, Large-scale systems, operating system design, Operating systems, parallel programming, program analysis, program diagnostics, program visualization, Programming profession, Sampling methods, scalable performance tools, software tools |
| Abstract | Presents a new technique called `dynamic instrumentation' that provides efficient, scalable, yet detailed data collection for large-scale parallel applications. Our approach is unique because it defers inserting any instrumentation until the application is in execution. We can insert or change instrumentation at any time during execution by modifying the application's binary image. Only the instrumentation required for the currently selected analysis or visualization is inserted. As a result, our technique collects several orders of magnitude less data than traditional data collection approaches. We have implemented a prototype of our dynamic instrumentation on the CM-5, and present results for several real applications. In addition, we include recommendations to operating system designers, compiler writers, and computer architects about the features necessary to permit efficient monitoring of large-scale parallel systems |
| DOI | 10.1109/SHPCC.1994.296728 |