Vijay Tatkar's Blog

Sun Studio in the news
Sun today announced that Sun Studio 11 had delivered record-setting results for SPEC CPU2006 and that Sun Studio Express (#2) has been released.
But you folks already know that from this previous blog entry of mine and this one.
Nevertheless, it IS nice to see it all in print. More awareness certainly wont hurt; its not like the product is suffering from over-exposure (or anything)
Read all the details at this URL:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060831/sfth046.html?.v=69
This morning (Sept 1), The Reg picked up the piece as well:
Sun gives hint of things to come in Studio.
Nice!
Posted by tatkar ( Aug 31 2006, 02:12:20 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

SunStudio Portal Article: Performance Analyzer
Two new articles describe how to use the Sun Studio Performance Tools to profile Java applications, and WebLogic servers.
Profiling Java Applications with Sun Studio Performance Tools describes the challenge of profile Java applications either pure Java or mixed Java/C/C++, which need to run as a process instantiating the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), which is itself a C++ program.
Profiling WebLogic Servers with Sun Studio Performance Tools describes how to profile servers being run under BEA's WebLogic® system. A server run under BEA's WebLogic is a Java application that you launch by running a script to invoke the JVM.
This is the only profiling tool I know of that does C, C++, Fortran, Java, Weblogic servers, OpenMP, MPI, Pthreads, Auto-parallelized code well both on Solaris as well as Linux(es). Both in GUI and command-line. A true SunStudio Gem!
Posted by tatkar ( Aug 30 2006, 10:05:55 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

The Search for a new HPC language
Getting new languages adopted into the market is pretty rare; only a few have succeeded over time: Fortran, COBOL, C, C++ and Java are perhaps the best known of this lot. Adoption and popularity have often led to such fierce loyalty that getting new programming languages adopted has become a very high-barrier endeavor.
DARPA, through its HPCS program, is attempting to deliver a paradigm shift. The theory goes that creating a new general-purpose language for high performance computing will offer a different way to think about the problem.
The latest issue of HPCwire examines the three new emerging languages proposed as part of the DARPA effort: Chapel (Cray), X10 (IBM) and Fortress (Sun) .
I think the following links are a must-read for anyone who is interested in whats emerging in the HPC market and how leading vendors are going to offer a way out of the current limitations.
The first one discusses the motivation to Search for a new HPC language .
The second is an interview with Rusky Lusk, Acting Division Director of the Mathematics and Computer Science Division at Argonne National Laboratory, about how this part of the HPCS program will proceed as Phase II comes to a close.
I cant do enough justice in this blog to the topic; the above links say much more than I can and in more detail.
Personal note: I am sometimes asked at customer meetings about the direction that Sun is going to propose for development in the emerging CMT era (because Sun, more than anyone else, is seen as a technical leader in this market). My answers often wander around MPI, OpenMP, Parallel language extensions such as UPC, HPF, etc. I also mention the DARPA efforts in this regard. Clearly all of these are long-term efforts, not quick fixes in the short term to exploit the dual-core, quad-core and multi-core chips.
PPS. Sun has had other bloggers also talk about this aspect of the DARPA/HPCS program. One of the most profilic blogs is the HPCS languages moving forward and about the search for a new HPCL language . I'd urge y'all to go to this site from time to time; it has many interesting nuggets that I have learned from.
Posted by tatkar ( Aug 29 2006, 10:22:32 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Sun experiences Server Growth while competitors struggle
Well, clearly time will tell if Sun has actually turned the corner, but the indications are encouraging at this time. Sun has put out a marketing paper on server growth for second quarter in a row. Its a good read; heres the pointer to it.
Perhaps, Sun's investments and product launches are beginning to find traction after all this time. Lets hope so!
In closing, over at Motley Fools Discussion Group on Sun, a frequent poster, ChrisRijk, made the following table on recent server shares from various vendors.
Worldwide Server Systems Factory Revenue

	Q105	Q2O5	Q305	Q405	Q106	Q206
IBM	28.3%	31.9%	32.3%	27.9%	27.9%	31.0%
HP	27.6%	28.5%	27.8%	26.8%	28.1%	27.8%
Dell	10.8%	10.5%	10.5%	9.6%	11.1%	10.3%
Sun	9.9%	11.3%	8.7%	8.2%	10.8%	12.9%

For actual revenue (year on year): IBM was down 2.2%, HP was down 1.7%, Dell was down 1.3%, and Sun was up 15.5%.
Posted by tatkar ( Aug 28 2006, 08:24:40 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Thumper (SunFire X4500) sets World Record in SPECfp
Not just another pretty face, Thumper, aka Sun Fire X4500 has scored its first World Record SPEC performance win!
Thumper, or as its known by its marketing name: Sun Fire X4500, is a terrific combination of storage (24TB) along with high performance 2-socket dual-core (and quad-core ready, BTW) Opteron server. The kind that prompts you to say I want one of those the moment you set your eyes upon it.
World Record SPECfp_rate2000 for all 2-socket x86 systems.
The message is clear: (in the words of our Performance Lead) The result puts Thumper clearly at the top of floating point CPU horsepower for all 2-socket x86 systems. Thumper is not just a lot of storage, but the fastest server in its class all at the same time.
Clearly its the rackmountable version of All This (beautiful) Storage and Brains Too!
You can find much more information about Thumper, aka Sun Fire X4500 here.

Required Disclosure Statements:

Sun Fire X4500 103 SPECfp 2000 Rate (4 cores, 2 chip, Solaris 10)

SPEC, SPECfp Rate are Registered Trademarks of Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation. Results from www.spec.org as of August 24, 2006.

Posted by tatkar ( Aug 25 2006, 08:12:42 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

SPEC CPU2006 released and Sun Leads in Performance again!
SPEC has just released SPEC CPU2006; the follow on to the SPEC CPU2000 benchmark suite.
Sun, once again, leads in 3 out of the 4 major performance categories (see below), which is especially pleasing since this was a first or blind submission where none of the submitting companies knew what others were going to do.
You can find the release and descriptions here.
As SPEC says here, SPEC designed CPU2006 to provide a comparative measure of compute-intensive performance across the widest practical range of hardware using workloads developed from real user applications. Kudos to all SPEC members for getting a more realistic benchmark out into the community . Benchmarking is a constantly changing exercise, as applications emphasis shift.
You can find ALL the submitted results at this URL.
Point of joy for my team and Sun: Sun's submissions came out on top in 3 out of 4 categories: CINT2006, CFP2006 and CINTrate. Check out these results:

1. Best SPEC CPU CINT2006 (SpecINT2006) result out of 23 submissions
2. Best SPEC CPU CFP2006 (SpecFP2006) result out of 21 submissions/a>
3. Best SPEC CPU CINT2006 Rate (SpecINTrate) result out of 12 submissions for overall rate (SPARC, 144 cores as well as 2-core Opterons)
4. Also, the Best SPEC CPU CFP2006 Rate for 2-cores using AMD/Opteron chip but not the best overall, because other configurations were larger!

Required Disclosure Statements:

Sun Fire X4200 13.3 SPECINT2006 (1 core, 1 chip, Solaris 10)
Sun Fire X4200 14.7 SPECFP2006 (2 cores, 2 chips, Solaris 10)
Sun Fire E25K 904 SPECINT2006 Rate (144 cores, 72 chips, Solaris 10)
Sun Fire X4200 26.4 SPECINT2006 Rate (2 cores, 2 chips, Solaris 10)
Sun Fire X4200 25.9 SPECFP2006 Rate (2 cores, 2 chips, Solaris 10)

SPEC, SPECint, SPECfp, SPECint Rate and SPECfp Rate are Registered Trademarks of Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation. Results from www.spec.org as of August 24, 2006.

Posted by tatkar ( Aug 24 2006, 11:54:42 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [2]

On vacation till August 24th
See ya folks in about 8 days; I dont know if I can post (or read) while on vacation. Will be taking the family to Niagara Falls and area. Cant promise to be on the web in any case during this period. Looking forward to some nice R&R with the family!
Posted by tatkar ( Aug 15 2006, 11:31:08 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Sun Studio Express 2 released; Whats New?
New in Sun Studio Express 2:
Sun Studio Express 2 introduces Linux Compilers into the mainstream builds. So, the Sun Studio Linux offering now has Compilers integrated fully with the IDE, Debugger, Performance Analyzer. Its an attractive package that has a certain edge over the other Linux offerings in this space. I did a comparative table a few weeks back; the pointer is here.
In addition to the integration, there are several features that are new in this build. Heres a listing of the more significant ones:

• Performance Improvements: this Express build rolls in all the optimization changes we used to announce the best SPECfp number
• Support for better MMX intrinsics, SSE3 instructions and better inlining of these
• New compiler flags
• Data Race Detection tool is now on Linux
• Lock_lint is now on Solaris/x86 as well as Linux/x86
• Compiler support for such features as: #include_next, __attribute__,  value returning blocks, __typeof__,  zero length arrays
• These additions support increased gcc (source compatibility).
  
• Improved inlining support, especially for C++
• Support for BOOST and Loki library as detailed elsewhere, earlier is now rolled into this build
• Several C++ features such as: STLport on Linux, standard lifetime of temporary (now this is the default),  complex  expressions in template parameters
  
• Improved support for debugging optimized code and DWARF debugging is now the default for all compilers (about time?)
  
• Improved OpenMP Debugging with particularly improved C++ support
• Interval Arithmetic support on Solaris/x86 and Linux
• Sun Performance library now on Linux
• Various, ongoing improvements in Sun Performance Analyzer, our premier performance profiling tool

Read all the details here.
Additionally, to reiterate, you can download the Express bits here and join our SunStudio Forums to discuss bugs, improvements, features, etc.
We would love to hear from you; your feedback helps make a more focussed product possible.

Posted by tatkar ( Aug 15 2006, 11:03:39 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

LinuxWorld SF starts today and SunStudio Express2 Released
A quick note:
LinuxWorld, San Francisco starts today and runs through August 17th .
To coincide with this, Sun is releasing the second Express program drop of our SunStudio tools. You will find a lot of information at this README page. The Highlights of this release are the integration of the Linux Compilers in the mainstream build, so you will now get a fully integrated package from Sun.
Browse the README page for all the features (I'll blog about these separately, as time allows me to).
Posted by tatkar ( Aug 14 2006, 10:03:36 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

SunTech Days scheduled; you're invited!
SunTech Days are a Sun-sponsored Worldwide Developer Conference.
Its a terrific opportunity for developers to learn about all of the latest technologies.
Attend expert-led technical sessions on:

• SunStudio and Developer Tools
• Solaris OS
• Web 2.0
• Open Source
• Java SE
• Java EE
• Java ME

There are several locations where the conference will be held; this year, the plan is to hold it in

• Seattle (US)
• Shanghai and Beijing (China)
• Buenos Aires (Argentina)
• Seoul (S. Korea)
• Prague (Czech Republic)
• Hyderabad (India)
• Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
• London (UK)
• Atlanta (US)
• St. Petersburg (Russia)
• Sao Paulo (Brazil)
• Mexico City (Mexico)

No registration fee, but space is limited. Register today.
For more information about other upcoming events in the Sun Tech Days 2006 - 2007 World Tour, join the Sun Developer Network.
You will find presentations, Instructor-led training sessions,(here) featured keynotes, and a ton of other info at this site.
Come join us, be part of the growing Sun Developer Community.

Posted by tatkar ( Aug 11 2006, 10:56:19 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

The Register teaches you to write a C++ loop (Humor)
The Register (or rather Reg Developer ) had a hilarious take on Writing a C++ Loop .
A must read; do take a look!
Posted by tatkar ( Aug 09 2006, 11:41:03 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

SunStudio talk at LinuxWorld, SF
SunStudio will be at LinuxWorld, San Francisco, August 14-17th as part of our partner AMD's Pavilion. We will be doing demos, handing out Developer DVDs
Our own Roman Shaposhnick will be presenting a paper titled:
Unleashing the power of chip multi-threading with software tools. You can read the abstract here .
Look up conference details here. and get your free exhibit-only pass here . Come check us out!
Posted by tatkar ( Aug 08 2006, 10:00:36 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

The day after the day after the RIF As you have probably seen by now, parts of Sun (many of the geos, though not all, at this point) underwent the rightsizing exercise last Thursday that Sun had announced at year-end earnings announcement . The analyst industry had picked up on this quite prominently at the time, like this citation.  The promise from executives was a reduction in headcount to create a lowered breakeven point so that Sun can be put right back onto a path of sustained, attractive, ongoing profitability, with increased mindshare, adoption and market share penetration that will position Sun for future growth.
As you can imagine, this is a VERY difficult exercise. For Sun, as a business, its a tradeoff between

• Sustained and attractive profitability, which means the layoffs shouldnt exceed the investment threshold we need for comfortable future growth opportunities
  
• Is Software a profit center, which it can be, or provide fuel for future growth and Sun Microsystems revenue
• As an employee-centric company, laying off too many is both irresponsible and discouraging to the morale of those left behind
• Getting enough costs out of the system so Sun doesnt have to go through a cycle of layoffs, take charges, recover, re-evaluate newer, lower breakeven point

As hard as this itself is, theres something even harder: RIF (Reduction in Force), layoffs, rightsizing, whatever you want to call it, is first and foremost about people. And in many, many cases, it is about having to let go employees who arent ready to make the transition. For managers, and having gone through this process before I can say with full conviction, this is the hardest thing they will ever have done. Sitting across the desk from an employee or colleague whom you dearly respect and whose professionalism, talent, ability and workstyle you have admired over the years and telling them that Sun can no longer afford to have them onboard, is an unforgettable experience. For other employees, who have to replan midcourse, pick up the workload and responsibilities and continue to deliver to the expectations of the customers is a challenging adjustment and stressful exercise. But most of all, its unbelievably hard on the employees who get the surprise  announcement. It upsets their life, it upsets their family and  it upsets their career plans. It is the hardest transition they will ever make.

As much as I hope this layoff is the last one for Sun for business reasons and that we can be back on path of sustained profitability and predictable, delivered growth, I hope equally that those who were let go in this period discover their own ways of landing back on their feet and moving their professional careers to the next level. And with it, their family and life plans. Good luck to you  in your future pursuits, Sun alumni! You belong to a group that the rest of us immensely admire and I hope that we will continue to be friends and that our paths will meet again.
Posted by tatkar ( Aug 07 2006, 10:19:13 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [2]

SunStudio on Linux Tip #1: CMT support
Multi-Threading is here! Multi-core is here! Its time to get ready! There is no more free lunch; its over!

OK, now that I'm done sloganizing :-), there is really a serious need that I think SunStudio Compilers  and Tools on Linux are well-positioned to satisfy: Developing high Performance Application for the emerging multi-core systems!
SunStudio on Linux offers the following distinct benefits:

• Support for various parallel programming paradigms: Unix and POSIX threads, OpenMP, MPI, automatic parallelization
• Best Compiler SPECfp performance on this planet
• Best OpenMP Performance upto 8 threads (max on current 4-socket AMD systems) and the Best Proven Scalability(95% upto 48 jobs)
• MT-aware Debugger, Performance Analyzer
• Data Race Detection Tool,  Lock_lint for Static analysis (C) and Global Program Checker (Fortran)
• Performance libraries (libm, libsunperf, etc) tuned for multithreaded
• Superior dmake for parallel jobs and distributed (cluster) builds that is also GRID aware

And also, several articles  published on SunStudio Developer Portal   that talk about various Chip-Multithreading, Multicore chips and Parallel programming aspects. Here is an interesting sprinkling of papers that you could read to get started on the topic

The Challenge of Developing Applications for Parallel Computing
This article discusses the important parallel application development issues now emerging from the parallel computing technology trend. It introduces and explains some of the most important industry standards such as OpenMP, MPI, and Grid Computing, and describes the current state of parallel application software development.
The Challenge of Race Conditions in Parallel Programming
This article discusses general and data race condition that arise in parallel programming. While data race condition problems are common and easy to fix, harder to avoid general race problems can also occur. A race condition could be the symptom of deeper design problems. A simple parallel partitioning example illustrates these various race condition issues and how to avoid them. DataRace Detection Tool
This article talks about using DRDT to detect data-races that occur during the execution of a single, multi-threaded process.
Lock_Lint - Static Data Race and Deadlock Detection Tool for C
The command-line utility lock_lint analyzes the use of mutex and multiple readers/single writer locks, and reports on inconsistent use of these locking techniques that may lead to data races and deadlocks in multi-threaded applications.
What is Throughput Computing all about
This (PDF) paper discusses what Sun's Throughput Computing initiative and gives a background about Software, Hardware and System issues Sun is endeavoring to solve. It introduces the terms CoolThreads and explains what CMT means and how Sun is satisfying business needs through the new UltraSPARC design

I'd recommend that you bookmark this  SunStudio/CMT site which has a collection of interesting papers on these topics

• Throughput Computing in Multicore Environments
• OpenMP
• MPI
• Parallel Programming issues and Multithreading tools
• Community support via Forums, SDN, OpenSolaris
• Migration Information including issues between Linux/x86, Solaris/x86 and Solaris/SPARC

And finally, all of this works just as well on Solaris as well. In the case of MultiThreaded application development, debugging and analysis, it works even better!
Posted by tatkar ( Aug 04 2006, 10:44:43 AM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

OpenSolaris has now switched to SunStudio 11
Just saw this email from the OpenSolaris folks; the conversion from Sun Studio 10 to 11 has been in the works for a while now and now its completed!
Sun Studio 11 software is available for the OpenSolaris Community
Sun Studio 11 software can now be used by the OpenSolaris Community, as the ON Consolidation, now builds with Sun Studio 11.
It can be downloaded from the Tools community at: http://www.opensolaris.org/os/community/tools/sun_studio_tools/sun_studio_11_tools/
note: This is a tarball image of Studio 11 with all the necessary patches already incorporated for ON builds.
I should add that we compile several other applications during every build cycle (current list is around 140 or so and counting various version numbers, its around 400). I have asked for this list to be published around the time we release Sun Studio Express 2 binaries. Yes, we eat our own dogfood at Sun and getting our various C/C++/Fortran offerings compiled to take advantage of the latest compilers is a major initiative.
Posted by tatkar ( Aug 02 2006, 04:23:44 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]