Patent Application
20080077868
The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further purposes and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures, wherein:
The present invention includes a graphical user interface (GUI) that provides visual information on processor, memory, and network path resources for an application running on a multi-node data processing system. Once the application is invoked on the multi-node data processing system, the GUI maps the multi-node data processing system's topology as a three-dimensional object. The GUI may alternatively utilize other topologies, including, but not limited to, a one-dimensional mesh or a one-dimensional torus. The user may select parts of the graphical representation to obtain more information about where the application is running and how network resources are being utilized during application execution.
Referring now to the figures, and in particular, referring to
Compute nodes 102, preferably implemented by 65,536 compute nodes, is preferably partitioned into 1,024 logical processing sets (“psets”). Each pset includes one I/O node running Linix and 64 compute nodes running a custom compute node kernel (CNK). Psets are not physical entities in the architecture, but are assembled logically from compute nodes 102 and I/O nodes 104 of a partition by assigning compute nodes to a particular I/O node. There is a certain degree of flexibility in assigning nodes to a pset, and their configuration is part of machine setup. In particular, alternative configurations are possible, with a ratio of I/O-to-compute nodes from 1:8 to 1:128. That is, psets can be as small as eight compute nodes and as large as 128 compute nodes (conditional upon appropriate hardware present).
Once the user has selected the number of nodes to be utilized to visualize the system, GUI 200 transitions to the screen illustrated in
For example, assume that the user has selected cubes 216a and 216d for the display of more information in GUI 200. A more detailed information display of cubes 216a and 216d is illustrated in
GUI 200 prompts the user to select at least one cube for more information on the resource represented by that cube, as depicted in step 306. If the user does not desire more information about the resources in multi-node data processing system 100, the process continues to step 318, which illustrates the process ending.
Returning to step 306, if the user desires more information about the resources in multi-node data processing system 100, GUI 200 prompts the user to enter the name of a currently-executing application on compute nodes 102, as illustrated in step 308. If the user does not enter the name of a currently-executing application, the process ends, as illustrated in step 318.
If the user enters the name of a currently-running application, the process proceeds to step 310, which shows GUI 200 illustrating a properties canvas, such as fields 214a-c. As previously discussed, fields 214a-c enables the user to select the properties to be monitored (e.g., CPU usage, memory usage, and I/O usage). The process continues to step 312, which depicts the user selecting a property to be displayed. In step 314, GUI 200 displays the selected property. The process continues to step 316, which illustrates GUI 200 determining if the process is complete. If the process is complete, the process ends, as illustrated in step 318. If the process is not complete, the process returns to step 310 and continues in an iterative fashion.
As discussed, the present invention includes a method, system, and computer-usable medium for visually representing resource usage in a multi-node data processing system. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention a graphical user interface (GUI) stored in system memory visually expresses the multi-node data processing system as a collection of cubes, where each cube among the collection of cubes represents at least one node within the multi-node data processing system. The GUI specifies a currently-running application to measure a level of resources utilized by the currently-running application. The GUI indicates a type of resource information to be displayed and display the indicated type of resource information related to the currently-running application utilizing the collection of cubes. It should be understood that at least some aspects of the present invention may alternatively be implemented in a computer-usable medium that contains a program product. Programs defining functions in the present invention can be delivered to a data storage system or a computer system via a variety of signal-bearing media, which include, without limitation, non-writable storage media (e.g., CD-ROM), writable storage media (e.g., hard disk drive, read/write CD-ROM, optical media), system memory such as, but not limited to Random Access Memory (RAM), and communication media, such as computer and telephone networks including Ethernet, the Internet, wireless networks, and like network systems. It should be understood, therefore, that such signal-bearing media when carrying or encoding computer-readable instructions that direct method functions in the present invention represent alternative embodiments of the present invention. Further, it is understood that the present invention may be implemented by a system having means in the form of hardware, software, or a combination of software and hardware as described herein or their equivalent.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
