\documentclass{article} % Use the Cactus ThornGuide style file % (Automatically used from Cactus distribution, if you have a % thorn without the Cactus Flesh download this from the Cactus % homepage at www.cactuscode.org) \usepackage{../../../../doc/latex/cactus} \begin{document} \title{PUGH} \author{The Cactus Team\\{\tt cactusmaint@cactuscode.org}} \date{$ $Date$ $} \maketitle % Do not delete next line % START CACTUS THORNGUIDE \begin{abstract} The default unigrid driver for Cactus for both multiprocessor and single process runs, handling grid variables and communications. \end{abstract} \section{Description} PUGH can create, handle and communicate grid scalars, arrays and functions in 1, 2 or 3-dimensions. \section{Compilation} PUGH can be compiled with or without MPI. Compiling without MPI results in an executable which can only be used on a single processor, compiling with MPI leads to an executable which can be used with either single or multiple processors. (Section~\ref{pugh_understanding} describes how you can tell if your executable has been compiled with or without MPI). For configuring with MPI, see the Cactus User's Guide. \section{Grid Size} The number of grid points used for a simulation can be set in PUGH either globally (that is, the total number of points across all processors), or locally (that is, the number of points on each processor). To set the global size of a N-D grid to be 40 grid points in each direction use \begin{verbatim} PUGH::global_nsize = 40 \end{verbatim} To set the global size of a 2D grid to be $40\times 20$ use \begin{verbatim} PUGH::global_nx = 40 PUGH::global_ny = 20 \end{verbatim} To set the local size of a 2D grid to be $40\times 20$ on each processor, use \begin{verbatim} PUGH::local_nx = 40 PUGH::local_ny = 20 \end{verbatim} \section{Periodic Boundary Conditions} PUGH can implement periodic boundary conditions during the synchronization of grid functions. Although this may at first seem a little confusing, and unlike the usual use of boundary conditions which are directly called from evolution routines, it is the most efficient and natural place for periodic boundary conditions. PUGH applies periodic conditions by simply communicating the appropriate ghostzones between ``end'' processors. For example, for a 1D domain with two ghostzones, split across two processors, Figure~\ref{pugh::fig1} shows the implementation of periodic boundary conditions. \begin{figure}[ht] \begin{center} \includegraphics[angle=0,width=8cm]{periodic} \end{center} \caption[]{Implementation of periodic boundary conditions for a 1D domain, with two ghostzones, split across two processors. The lines labelled {\bf A} show the {\it standard} communications during synchronisation, the lines labelled {\bf B} show the additional communications for periodic boundary conditions.} \label{pugh::fig1} \end{figure} Periodic boundary conditions are applied to all grid functions, by default they are applied in all directions, although this behaviour can be customised to switch them off in given directions. By default, no periodic boundary conditions are applied. To apply periodic boundary conditions in all directions, set \begin{verbatim} PUGH::periodic = "yes" \end{verbatim} To apply periodic boundary conditions in just the x- and y- directions in a 3 dimensional domain, use \begin{verbatim} PUGH::periodic = "yes" PUGH::periodic_z = "no" \end{verbatim} \section{Processor Decomposition} %\section{Load Balancing} By default PUGH will distribute the computational grid evenly across all processors (as in Figure~\ref{pugh::fig2}a). This may not be efficient if there is a different computational load on different processors, or for example for a simulation distributed across processors with different per-processor performance. \begin{figure}[ht] \begin{center} \includegraphics[angle=0,width=12cm]{Partitioning} \end{center} \caption[]{Partitioning of the computational grid across processors, Figure~a) is the default type of partition used by {\tt PUGH}, Figure~b) can be set manually, and Figure~c) is not possible with {\tt PUGH}} \label{pugh::fig2} \end{figure} The computational grid can be manually partitioned in each direction in a regularly way as in Figure~\ref{pugh::fig2}b. The computational grid can be manually distributed using PUGH's string parameters \verb!partition_[1d_x|2d_x|2d_y|3d_x|3d_y|3d_z]!. To manually specify the load distribution, set {\tt PUGH::partition = "manual"} and then, depending on the grid dimension, set the remaining parameters to distribute the load in each direction. Note that for this you need to know apriori the processor decomposition. The decomposition is easiest to explain with a simple example: to distribute a 30-cubed grid across 4 processors (decomposed as $2 \times 1 \times 2$, with processors 0 and 2 performing twice as fast as processors 1 and 3) as: \begin{tabular}{cc} proc 2: $20 \times 30 \times 15$ & proc 3: $10 \times 30 \times 15$ \\ proc 0: $20 \times 30 \times 15$ & proc 1: $10 \times 30 \times 15$ \\ \end{tabular} you would use the following topology and partition parameter settings: \begin{verbatim} # the overall grid size PUGH::global_nsize = 30 # processor topology PUGH::processor_topology = manual PUGH::processor_topology_3d_x = 2 PUGH::processor_topology_3d_y = 1 PUGH::processor_topology_3d_z = 2 # redundant # grid partitioning PUGH::partition = "manual" PUGH::partition_3d_x = "20 10" \end{verbatim} Each partition parameter lists the number of grid points for every processor in that direction, with the numbers delimited by any non-digit characters. Note that an empty string for a direction (which is the default value for the partition parameters) will apply the automatic distribution. That's why it is not necessary to set \verb|PUGH::partition_3d_y = "30"| or \verb|PUGH::partition_3d_z = "15 15"| in the parameter file. Because the previous automatic distribution gave problems in some cases (e.g.\ very long box in one, but short in other directions), there is now an improved algorithm that tries to do a better job in decomposing the grid evenly to the processors. However, it can fail in certain situations, in which it is gracefully falling back to the previous (\verb|"automatic_old"|) giving a warning. Note that, if one or more of the parameters \verb|PUGH::processor_topology_3d_*| or \verb|PUGH::partition_3d_*| are set, this mode automatically falls back to \verb|"automatic_old"| without warning. \section{Understanding PUGH Output} \label{pugh_understanding} PUGH reports information about the processor decomposition to standard output at the start of a job. This section describes how to interpret that output. \vskip .3cm \noindent {\bf Single Processor (no MPI)} \begin{itemize} \item{\bf Type of evolution} If an executable has been compiled for only single processor use (without MPI), the first thing which PUGH reports is this fact: {\tt INFO (PUGH): Single processor evolution} \end{itemize} \vskip .3cm \noindent {\bf Multiple Processor (with MPI)} \vskip .3cm \begin{itemize} \item{\bf Type of evolution} If an executable has been compiled using MPI, the first thing which PUGH reports is this fact, together with the number of processors being used: {\tt INFO (PUGH): MPI Evolution on 3 processors} \item{\bf Maximum load skew} The maximum load skew describes the variance in the number of gridpoints on each processor, and is defined by $$\mbox{Max Skew} = 100 \;\;\frac{\mbox{Max Points}- \mbox{Min Points}}{\mbox{Average Points}} $$ For most purposes, the maximum skew should ideally be close to zero, however if your simulation has a different load at different grid points, or if you are running across processors with different properties, the optimal skew could be quite different. By default, PUGH tries to minize the skew in gridpoints, however this may be overriden by performing the load balancing manually. \end{itemize} \section{Useful Parameters} There are several parameters in PUGH which are useful for debugging and optimisation: \begin{Lentry} \item[{\tt PUGH::enable\_all\_storage}] Enables storage for all grid variables (that is, not only those set in a thorn's {\tt schedule.ccl} file). Try this parameter if you are getting segmentation faults. If enabling all storage removes the problem, it most likely means that you are accessing a grid variable (probably in a Fortran thorn) for which storage has not been set. \item[{\tt PUGH::initialise\_memory}] By default, when PUGH allocates storage for a grid variable it does not initialise its elements. If you access an uninitialised variable on some platforms you will get a segmentation fault (and in general you will see erratic behaviour). This parameter can be used to initialise all elements to zero, if this removes your segmentation fault you can then track down the cause of the problem by using the same parameter to initialize all elements to NaNs and then track them with the thorn {\tt CactusUtils/NaNChecker}. Note that it isn't recommended to simply use this parameter to initialise all elements to zero, instead we recommend you to set all variables to their correct values before using them. \item[{\tt PUGH::storage\_verbose}] This parameter can be set to print out the number of grid variables which have storage allocated at each iteration, and the total size of the storage allocated by Cactus. Note that this total does not include storage allocated independently in thorns. \item[{\tt PUGH::timer\_output}] This parameter can be set to provide the time spent communicating variables between processors. \end{Lentry} % Do not delete next line % END CACTUS THORNGUIDE \end{document}