IIRC, the first 16 or so messages over the openib btl uses the send/recv API as opposed to rdma which is significantly faster. I am not sure as to how 1.5.3 and multi-rail affects this but the preconnected I believe short circuits when one cuts over to use rdma for eager messages.

--td

On 10/31/2012 3:36 PM, Paul Kapinos wrote:

Hello all,

Open MPI is clever and use by default multiple IB adapters, if available.
http://www.open-mpi.org/faq/?category=openfabrics#ofa-port-wireup

Open MPI is lazy and establish connections only iff needed.

Both is good.

We have kinda special nodes: up to 16 sockets, 128 cores, 4 boards, 4 IB cards. Multirail works!

The crucial thing is, that starting with v1.6.1 the latency of the very first PingPong sample between two nodes take really a lot of time - some 100x - 200x of usual latency. You cannot see this using usual latency benchmark(*) because they tend to omit the first samples as "warmup phase", but we use a kinda self-written parallel test which clearly show this (and let me to muse some days).
If Miltirail is forbidden (-mca btl_openib_max_btls 1), or if v.1.5.3 used, or if the MPI processes are preconnected (http://www.open-mpi.org/faq/?category=running#mpi-preconnect) there is no such huge latency outliers for the first sample.

Well, we know about the warm-up and lazy connections.

But 200x ?!

Any comments about that is OK so?

Best,

Paul Kapinos

(*) E.g. HPCC explicitely say in http://icl.cs.utk.edu/hpcc/faq/index.html#132
> Additional startup latencies are masked out by starting the measurement after
> one non-measured ping-pong.

P.S. Sorry for cross-posting to both Users and Developers, but my last questions to Users have no reply until yet, so trying to broadcast...
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