Lack of SoG WUs

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AMDave
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Message 1819343 - Posted: 24 Sep 2016, 14:16:05 UTC

Over the passed several weeks, I haven't received any SoG WUs.  It's strictly been 8.12 *sah or 8.00 cuda50.  Runtimes have increased and the cuda50s can be dramatically inconsistent.  For instance, there were 2 WUs with the exact same AR (0.017676), one ran for 4m 42s, the other ran for 44m 54s.  Did I miss a memo somewhere?

I also have my share of overflows from the JAN & FEB Arecibo WUs of '16, one of which had an AR of 139.571960.
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Message 1819346 - Posted: 24 Sep 2016, 14:25:21 UTC - in response to Message 1819343.  

Dave, I'm assuming you are running stock apps?

Have you looked at using the lunatics v45 beta 4 installer to get SoGs?

I'm guessing the lack of SoG for your rig maybe due to the server thinking the sah and cuda 50 are faster for your machine.
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Message 1819356 - Posted: 24 Sep 2016, 15:36:43 UTC

There is no difference between the actual work units, all are "created equal", at the time of distribution they are target to a particular application. When using the stock applications the servers attempt to identify which application works best on your system, and, as Zalster says, it would appear that they have decided that SaH and CUDA50 are best performing on your system.
If you decide to use the optimised applications, as suggested, then you can select what applications to run. This may give you better performance, but you are responsible for updates, and choosing the correct applications for both the CUP and GPU, plus keeping them updated - all of which is done for you when using the stock applications.
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Message 1819380 - Posted: 24 Sep 2016, 16:35:32 UTC - in response to Message 1819346.  

Dave, I'm assuming you are running stock apps?

Yes

Have you looked at using the lunatics v45 beta 4 installer to get SoGs?

It's been in the back of my mind.

I'm guessing the lack of SoG for your rig maybe due to the server thinking the sah and cuda 50 are faster for your machine.

and

When using the stock applications the servers attempt to identify which application works best on your system, and, as Zalster says, it would appear that they have decided that SaH and CUDA50 are best performing on your system.

Right.  I know that from time to time, the server will try a different app to determine if, in fact, the appropriate app is being used on a rig.  Previously, however, this has not happened for such an extended period of time.  How about resetting the project?
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Message 1819395 - Posted: 24 Sep 2016, 18:22:59 UTC

Resetting might work, but you would probably end up in exactly the same situation.
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Message 1819439 - Posted: 24 Sep 2016, 20:41:28 UTC - in response to Message 1819395.  
Last modified: 24 Sep 2016, 20:41:53 UTC

Resetting might work, but you would probably end up in exactly the same situation.


Unlikely.
Both OpenCL apps have better APR and are much faster on his host.


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Message 1819443 - Posted: 24 Sep 2016, 21:23:18 UTC - in response to Message 1819439.  
Last modified: 24 Sep 2016, 21:43:49 UTC

Resetting cleared the cache, then downloaded 47 v8.12 *sah WUs.  I'll give it some time for the cache to fully restock.  If I still don't get any SoGs, then maybe I found an 'undocumented feature'.

[EDIT]
It's official, I've an undocumented feature.

By the way, what causes the warning that appears for Task 5179311603?  This was the first WU processed after I reset the project.
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Message 1819453 - Posted: 24 Sep 2016, 21:51:08 UTC - in response to Message 1819439.  

Resetting might work, but you would probably end up in exactly the same situation.


Unlikely.
Both OpenCL apps have better APR and are much faster on his host.

But depending on the work mix at the time of the Manager figuring out which is faster, it could easily end up not picking SoG again.
Because of the work mix when I was running stock at Beta, my system ended up selecting CUDA42- the slowest of all the applications for my system.
To get it to try again I just ran multiple WUs at the same time to bring the APR rate for the selected application down. Then the manager did it's round robin trial again & this time came up with SoG as the best option.
Then I went back to 1 WU at a time.
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Message 1819454 - Posted: 24 Sep 2016, 21:55:48 UTC - in response to Message 1819453.  

The APR is calculated using averages. It's the lazy choice. Naturally we would choose the right tool for the right job, which usually would involve looking at the different work.
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Message 1819458 - Posted: 24 Sep 2016, 22:10:00 UTC - in response to Message 1819454.  
Last modified: 24 Sep 2016, 22:10:24 UTC

The APR is calculated using averages. It's the lazy choice. Naturally we would choose the right tool for the right job, which usually would involve looking at the different work.

An APR based on Angle Range & WU source?
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Message 1819461 - Posted: 24 Sep 2016, 22:12:39 UTC
Last modified: 24 Sep 2016, 22:14:16 UTC

Sometimes i`m wondering if those people writing such code living on the same planet.
Don`t get me wrong i`m used to cheat but most of the users are not.


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Message 1819466 - Posted: 24 Sep 2016, 22:21:02 UTC - in response to Message 1819458.  

The APR is calculated using averages. It's the lazy choice. Naturally we would choose the right tool for the right job, which usually would involve looking at the different work.

An APR based on Angle Range & WU source?

APR, being a BOINC measurement used for all applications and at all projects, can't take parochial constructs like AR into account. Simple example: Astropulse tasks don't have an AR.

The only project-specified value it has available to consider is <rsc_fpops_est>.
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Message 1819470 - Posted: 24 Sep 2016, 22:43:00 UTC

Hi,

the ar doesn't affect much of the CPU tasks. I've seen two major categories.

Just before I headed for a short family trip to a Holiday resort I had a major vision of how to improve triplet finding having a low or very low ar.

I'll ponder that over and over in my mind and try to be still present to my family and then finally implement that on late sunday evening or monday afternoon. I'm not sure it will reduce the processing time of GBT packets, but this is something I have to test and try.

The idea is similar to the -unroll in special version that cut the time in half.


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Message 1819573 - Posted: 25 Sep 2016, 5:34:58 UTC - in response to Message 1819466.  

The APR is calculated using averages. It's the lazy choice. Naturally we would choose the right tool for the right job, which usually would involve looking at the different work.

An APR based on Angle Range & WU source?

APR, being a BOINC measurement used for all applications and at all projects, can't take parochial constructs like AR into account. Simple example: Astropulse tasks don't have an AR.

The only project-specified value it has available to consider is <rsc_fpops_est>.


Correct using old functional (software) design strategies and incomplete math, generalised for use in as wider context as possible. However, nowadays there are cleaner, easier to maintain, ways to separate the domain specific knowledge (e.g. AR), than rebuilding a whole splitter from source everytime something new comes along.

Current method:
- either estimate, derive methodically, or guess <rsc_fpops_est> (well or badly)
-- happens to include an AR dependant term (in the splitter, hardwired)
- scale estimates, for task issue, using averages

Proposed method:
- either estimate, derive methodically, or guess <rsc_fpops_est> (well or badly)
- formalise the domain (task) specific component (such as AR) as a plugin transfer function. (currently is a transfer function in multibeam, but not very pluginable or useful for other work/project types)
- scale estimates, for task issue, using actual estimate localisation techniques.

Pros of the Current method, are that it's there and works (sortof). The cons are that any changes/additions require building a new splitter to include change (risky), reaching into scheduler issue time are sensitive to problems with using averages, and have no visible quality metrics to say whether it's right or wrong (other than users pointing and saying it looks borked when their estimates go wacky).

Pros of the equivalent but more refined second approach are flexibility to make domain specific changes (e.g. add telescope) as determining parameters, without having to rebuild/maintain core code, can choose starting values from the closest estimate set of knowledge, and function + problems become isolated to their domain.

The current method is a bespoke solution to a general problem, where the general problem has been misidentified. That is, the problem as coded for in Boinc is making estimates for every kindof task on every project in the same way, when the real underlying problem is that unique tasks, hosts, applications all require different estimates, and some adaptiveness.

I guess it might come down to that the quest for one-size-fits-all solutions ignores the information available for the sakes of a prescriptive regime that ends up guaranteeing projects have to modify code when they'd rather be focussed on their particular science.

There are tools and techniques for making estimates for the purposes of control, and averages are nearly universally considered bad.
"Living by the wisdom of computer science doesn't sound so bad after all. And unlike most advice, it's backed up by proofs." -- Algorithms to live by: The computer science of human decisions.
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Message boards : Number crunching : Lack of SoG WUs


 
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