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AIXPRT Community Preview 3 is here!

We’re happy to announce that the AIXPRT Community Preview 3 (CP3) is now available! As we discussed in last week’s blog, testers can expect three significant changes in AIXPRT CP3:

  • We updated support for the Ubuntu test packages from Ubuntu version 16.04 LTS to version 18.04 LTS.
  • We added TensorRT test packages for Windows and Ubuntu. Previously, AIXPRT testers could test only the TensorFlow variant of TensorRT. Now, they can use TensorRT to test systems with NVIDIA GPUs.
  • We added the Wide and Deep recommender system workload with the MXNet toolkit for Ubuntu systems.


To access AIXPRT CP3, click this access link and submit the brief information form unless you’ve already done so for CP2. You will then gain access to the AIXPRT community preview page. (If you’re not already a BenchmarkXPRT Development Community member, we’ll contact you with more information about your membership.)

On the community preview page, a download table displays the currently available AIXPRT CP3 test packages. Locate the operating system and toolkit you wish to test, and click the corresponding Download link. For detailed installation instructions and information on hardware and software requirements for each package, click the corresponding Readme link. Instead of providing installation guide PDFs as we did for CP2, we are now directing testers to a public GitHub repository. The repository contains the installation readmes for all the test packages, as well as a selection of alternative test configuration files. We’ll discuss the alternative configuration files in more detail in a future blog post.

Note: Those who have access to the existing AIXPRT GitHub repository will be able to access CP3 in the same way as previous versions.

We’ll continue to keep everyone up to date with AIXPRT news here in the blog. If you have any questions or comments, please let us know.

Justin

Understanding concurrent instances in AIXPRT

Over the past few weeks, we’ve discussed several of the key configuration variables in AIXPRT, such as batch size and level of precision. Today, we’re discussing another key variable: number of concurrent instances. In the context of machine learning inference, this refers to how many instances of the network model (ResNet-50, SSD-MobileNet, etc.) the benchmark runs simultaneously.

By default, the toolkits in AIXPRT run one instance at a time and distribute the compute load according to the characteristics of the CPU or GPU under test, as well as any relevant optimizations or accelerators in the toolkit’s reference library. By setting the number of concurrent instances to a number greater than one, a tester can use multiple CPUs or GPUs to run multiple instances of a model at the same time, usually to increase throughput.

With multiple concurrent instances, a tester can leverage additional compute resources to potentially achieve higher throughput without sacrificing latency goals.

In the current version of AIXPRT, testers can run multiple concurrent instances in the OpenVINO, TensorFlow, and TensorRT toolkits. When AIXPRT Community Preview 3 becomes available, this option will extend to the MXNet toolkit. OpenVINO and TensorRT automatically allocate hardware for each instance and don’t let users make manual adjustments. TensorFlow and MXNet require users to manually bind instances to specific hardware. (Manual hardware allocation for multiple instances is more complicated than we can cover today, so we may devote a future blog entry to that topic.)

Setting the number of concurrent instances in AIXPRT

The screenshot below shows part of a sample config file (the same one we used when we discussed batch size and precision). The value in the “concurrent instances” row indicates how many concurrent instances will be operating during the test. In this example, the number is one. To change that value, a tester simply replaces it with the desired number and saves the changes.

Config_snip

If you have any questions or comments (about concurrent instances or anything else), please feel free to contact us.

Justin

Understanding AIXPRT batch size

Last week, we wrote about the basics of understanding AIXPRT results. This week, we’re discussing one of the benchmark’s key test configuration variables: batch size. Talking about batch size can be confusing, because the phrase can refer to different concepts depending on the machine learning (ML) context in which it’s used. AIXPRT tests inference, so we’ll focus on how we use batch sizes in that context. For those who are interested, we provide more information about training batch size at the bottom of this post.

Batch size in inference
In the context of ML inference, the concept of batch size is straightforward. It simply refers to the number of combined input samples (e.g., images) that the tester wants the algorithm to process simultaneously. The purpose of adjusting batch size when testing inference performance is to achieve an optimal balance between latency (speed) and throughput (the total amount processed over time).

Because of the lighter load of processing one image at a time, Batch 1 often produces the fastest latency times, and can be a good indicator of how a system handles near-real-time inference demands from client devices. Larger batch sizes (8, 16, 32, 64, or 128) can result in higher throughput on test hardware that is capable of completing more inference work in parallel. However, this increased throughput can come at the expense of latency. Running concurrent inferences via larger batch sizes is a good way to test for maximum throughput on servers.

Configuring inference batch size in AIXPRT
A good practice when trying to figure out where to start with batch size is to match the batch size to the number of cores under test (e.g., Batch 8 for eight cores). To adjust batch size in AIXPRT, testers must edit the configuration files located in AIXPRT/Config. To represent a spectrum of common tunings, AIXPRT CP2 tests Batches 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 by default.

The screenshot below shows part of a sample config file. The numbers in the lines immediately below “batch_sizes” indicate the batch size. This test configuration would run tests using both Batch 1 and Batch 2. To change batch size, simply replace those numbers and save the changes.

Config_snip
Batch size in training
As we noted above, training batch size is different than inference batch size. For training, a batch is the group of samples used to train a model during one iteration and batch size is number of samples in a batch. (Note that in this context, an iteration is a single update of the algorithm’s parameters, not a complete test run.) With a batch size of one, the algorithm applies a single training sample to an image it is processing before updating its parameters. With a batch size of two, it would apply two training examples to an image before updating its parameters, and so on. Because neural network algorithms are iterative, a larger batch size setting during training increases the total number of iterations that occur during each pass through the data set. In combination with other variables, training batch size may ultimately affect metrics such as model accuracy and convergence (the point where additional training does not improve accuracy).

In the coming weeks, we’ll discuss other test configuration variables such as precision and the number of concurrent instances. We hope this series of blog entries will answer some of the common questions people have when first running the benchmark and help to make the AIXPRT testing process more approachable for testers who are just starting to explore machine learning. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us.

Justin

Navigating the AIXPRT Community Preview download page just got easier

AIXPRT Community Preview 2 (CP2) has been generating quite a bit of interest among the BenchmarkXPRT Development Community and members of the tech press. We’re excited that the tool has piqued curiosity and that folks are recognizing its value for technical analysis. When talking with folks about test setup and configuration, we keep hearing the same questions:

  • How do I find the exact toolkit or package that I need?
  • How do I find the instructions for a specific toolkit?
  • What test configuration variables are most important for producing consistent, relevant results?
  • How do I know which values to choose when configuring options such as iterations, concurrent instances, and batch size?


In the coming weeks, we’ll be working to provide detailed answers to questions about test configuration. In response to the confusion about finding specific packages and instructions, we’ve redesigned the CP2 download page to make it easier for you to find what you need. Below, we show a snapshot from the new CP2 download table. Instead of having to download the entire CP2 package that includes the OpenVINO, TensorFlow, and TensorRT in TensorFlow test packages, you can now download one package at a time. In the Documentation column, we’ve posted package-specific instructions, so you won’t have to wade through the entire installation guide to find the instructions you need.

AIXPRT Community Preview download table

We hope these changes make it easier for people to experiment with AIXPRT. As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments you may have.

Justin

Making AIXPRT easier to use

We’re glad to see so much interest in the AIXPRT CP2 build. Over the past few days, we’ve received two questions about the setup process: 1) where to find instructions for setting up AIXPRT on Windows, and 2) whether we could make it easier to install Intel OpenVINO on test systems.

In response to the first question, testers can find the relevant instructions for each framework in the readme files included in the AIXPRT install package. Instructions for Windows installation are in section 3 of the OpenVINO and TensorFlow readmes. Please note that whether you’re running AIXPRT on Ubuntu or Windows, be sure to read the “Known Issues” section in the readme, as there may be issues relevant to your specific configuration.

The readme files for each respective framework in the CP2 package are located here:

  • AIXPRT_0.5_CP2\AIXPRT_OpenVINO_0.5_CP2.zip\AIXPRT\Modules\Deep-Learning
  • AIXPRT_0.5_CP2\AIXPRT_TensorFLow_0.5_CP2.zip\AIXPRT\Modules\Deep-Learning
  • AIXPRT_0.5_CP2\AIXPRT_TensorFlow_TensorRT_0.5_CP2.zip\AIXPRT\Modules\Deep-Learning


We’re also working on consolidating the instructions into a central document that will make it easier for everyone to find the instructions they need.

In response to the question about OpenVINO installation, we’re working on an AIXPRT CP2 package that includes a precompiled version of OpenVINO R5.0.1 for easy installation on Windows via a few quick commands, and a script that installs the necessary OpenVINO dependencies. We’re currently testing the build, and we’ll make it available to testers as soon as possible.

The tests themselves will not change, so the new build will not influence existing results from Ubuntu or Windows. We hope it will simply facilitate the setup and testing process for many users.

We appreciate each bit of feedback that we receive, so if you have any suggestions for AIXPRT, please let us know!

Justin

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