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An evaluation of the state of time synchronization on leadership class supercomputers
Author(s) -
Jones Terry,
Ostrouchov George,
Koenig Gregory A.,
Mondragon Oscar H.,
Bridges Patrick G.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
concurrency and computation: practice and experience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.309
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1532-0634
pISSN - 1532-0626
DOI - 10.1002/cpe.4341
Subject(s) - computer science , skew , synchronization (alternating current) , class (philosophy) , state (computer science) , time synchronization , field (mathematics) , software , clock synchronization , scale (ratio) , distributed computing , computer engineering , real time computing , parallel computing , operating system , algorithm , telecommunications , artificial intelligence , mathematics , channel (broadcasting) , physics , quantum mechanics , pure mathematics
Summary We present a detailed examination of time agreement characteristics for nodes within extreme‐scale parallel computers. Using a software tool we introduce in this paper, we quantify attributes of clock skew among nodes in three representative high‐performance computers sited at three national laboratories. Our measurements detail the statistical properties of time agreement among nodes and how time agreement drifts over typical application execution durations. We discuss the implications of our measurements, why the current state of the field is inadequate, and propose strategies to address observed shortcomings.