This paper describes a toolset, PACE, that provides detailed predictive performance information throughout the implementation and execution stages of an application. It is structured around a hierarchy of performance models that describes distributed computing systems in terms of its software, parallelisation and hardware components, providing performance information concerning expected execution time, scalability and resource use of applications. A principal aim of the work is to provide a capability for rapid calculation of relevant performance numbers without sacrificing accuracy. The predictive nature of the approach provides both pre- and post- implementation analyses, and allows implementation alternatives to be explored prior to the commitment of an application to a system. Because of the relatively fast analysis times, these techniques can be used at run-time to assist in application steering and efficient management of the available system resources.
Darren J. Kerbyson, John S. Harper, Efstathios Pap