Run Lizard in Advanced Tuning Mode
Applies To: Microsoft HPC Pack 2008, Microsoft HPC Pack 2008 R2, Microsoft HPC Pack 2012, Windows HPC Server 2008, Windows HPC Server 2008 R2
If you have experience running the LINPACK Benchmark, or if you want to configure the tuning process before it runs, you can run Lizard in advanced tuning mode.
In advanced tuning mode, you can configure the following:
Specify the executable file to use for the LINPACK Benchmark
Specify the application network to use for the tuning process. This is necessary if your cluster has an application network that is not connected to the head node, or if you have more than one application network for your cluster
Select the compute nodes that will be used for the tuning process
Specify the initial values for the LINPACK Benchmark parameters
Select the operations that Lizard will perform during the tuning process
Important
Depending on the size and other characteristics of your HPC cluster, Lizard can take several hours to complete. Also, resources on your HPC cluster will be used to their limit. Running Lizard can maximize CPU and network load, and thus greatly increase power consumption. For these reasons, we recommend that you run Lizard while your HPC cluster is not being used for other computational tasks.
Membership in the local Administrators group, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure.
To run Lizard in advanced tuning mode
On the head node of your HPC cluster, run Lizard as administrator. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Allow.
On the Getting Started page, click Next.
On the Select Tuning Mode page, click Advanced Tuning, and then click Next.
On the Initial Configuration page, specify the initial configuration parameters, and then click Next.
Important
If the Processor Information dialog box appears, type the number of floating-point operations per clock cycle that the CPU on your head node computer can perform, and then click Save. For more information, see Provide Processor Information.
On the Select Nodes page, select all the nodes that you want to include in the tuning process, and then click Next.
Note
If the head node of your HPC cluster is not configured as a compute node, it will not be listed on this page and you will not be able to include it in the tuning process. If your head node is also configured as a compute node, however, it is highly recommended that you do not include the head node in the tuning process. When you include such a node in the tuning process, the LINPACK Benchmark, Lizard, and HPC Job Scheduler Service all compete with each other for CPU cycles on the head node. This competition for CPU cycles can ruin the LINPACK measurement and greatly increase the amount of time Lizard takes to run.
On the Initial Parameter Values page, specify the values for the LINPACK Benchmark parameters that you want to use at the beginning of the tuning process, and then click Next. Optionally, you can import these values from an output file that was generated by previously running Lizard. For more information, see Understanding the LINPACK Benchmark Parameters.
On the Tuning Operations page, select the operations that you want to perform during the tuning process, and specify the order in which they should be performed. For more information, see Understanding the Tuning Process Operations.
To start the tuning process, click Next.
Note
To view detailed information about the tuning process while the tuning process is running, click Go to Detailed View. You can go back to the original view at any time by clicking Return to Simple View.