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Power Aware Dynamic Provisioning of HPC Networks

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1331496· OSTI ID:1331496
 [1];  [1]
  1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Future exascale systems are under increased pressure to find power savings. The network, while it consumes a considerable amount of power is often left out of the picture when discussing total system power. Even when network power is being considered, the references are frequently a decade or older and rely on models that lack validation on modern inter- connects. In this work we explore how dynamic mechanisms of an Infiniband network save power and at what granularity we can engage these features. We explore this within the context of the host controller adapter (HCA) on the node and for the fabric, i.e. switches, using three different mechanisms of dynamic link width, frequency and disabling of links for QLogic and Mellanox systems. Our results show that while there is some potential for modest power savings, real world systems need to improved responsiveness to adjustments in order to fully leverage these savings. This page intentionally left blank.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
1331496
Report Number(s):
SAND2015--8717; 615262
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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