Introduction

This is a suite of benchmarks that measure performance of CPU, memory subsytem and the interconnect. For details refer to the HPCchallenge web site.

In essence, HPCchallange consists of a number of subbenchmarks each of which tests different aspect of the system.

If you familiar with the HPL benchmark code (see the HPL web site) then you can reuse the configuration file and the input file that you already have for HPL. The HPCchallange benchmark includes HPL and uses its configuration and input files with only slight modifications.

Compiling

The first step is to create a configuration file that reflects characteristics of your machine. The configuration file should be created in the hpl directory. This directory contains instructions (files README and INSTALL) on how to create the configuration file. This file is reused by all the components of the HPCchallange suite.

When configuration is done, a file should exists in the hpl whose name starts with Make. and ends with a name for the system used for tests. For example, if the name for the system is Unix, the file should be named Make.Unix.

To build the benchmark executable (for a system named Unix) type: make arch=Unix. This command should be run in the current (not in hpl) directory. It will look in the hpl directory for the configuration file and use it to build the benchmark executable.

Running

The HPCchallange is drivien by a short input file named hpccinf.txt that is almost the same as the input file for HPL. Refer to the directory hpl for details about the input file for HPL. A sample input file is included.

The differences between HPL input file and HPCchallange input file can be summarized as follows:

• Lines 3 and 4 are ignored. The output always goes to the file named hpccoutf.txt.

• There are additional lines (starting with line 32) that may (but do not have to) be used to customize the HPCchallenge benchmark. They are described below.