Dynamically controlled workload execution by an application

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9684540-B2
Application number	US-201514613191-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 3, 2015
Priority date	Feb 3, 2015
Publication date	Jun 20, 2017
Grant date	Jun 20, 2017

Abstract

Methods and systems for optimizing workloads on information handling systems involve determining, by an application, a computing task for execution by the application. The application may determine workload attributes for a computing task for execution at an information handling system. The workload attributes are used by the application to dynamically determine a workload policy for configuration of hardware resources at the information handling system. After dynamic configuration by the application of the hardware resources according to the workload policy, the computing task is executed at the information handling system by the application.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for optimizing workloads on information handling systems by applications, the method comprising:
determining, by an application, a computing task for execution by the application at an information handling system;
determining, by the application, workload attributes of the computing task, the workload attributes specifying dependency of the computing task on hardware resources included in the information handling system and specifying a degree of acceleration by a graphics processing unit to be utilized by the computing task;
identifying, by the application, the hardware resources present at the information handling system;
based on the workload attributes determined and the hardware resources identified, determining a workload policy for the computing task, wherein the workload policy specifies the hardware resources used to execute the computing task at the information handling system;
implementing, by the application, the workload policy at the information handling system, including configuring of the hardware resources specified in the workload policy; and
executing the computing task at the information handling system in accordance with the workload policy.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuring the hardware resources includes at least one of:
accessing a basic input/output system of the information handling system; and
accessing respective hardware drivers for the hardware resources, the hardware drivers installed in an operating system executing on the information handling system.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the application accesses at least some of the hardware resources using operating system drivers, and wherein the workload attributes are selected from at least one of:
a degree of multithreading used by the computing task;
a thread priority used by the computing task;
an instruction set architecture used by the computing task;
a memory capacity used by the computing task;
a memory data throughput used by the computing task;
a memory cache capacity used by the computing task;
a memory cache architecture used by the computing task;
a degree of non-uniform memory access permitted by the computing task;
a degree of background execution permitted by the computing task;
a network latency permitted by the computing task;
a storage capacity used by the computing task;
a storage data throughput used by the computing task;
a storage latency permitted by the computing task;
a vertical synchronization setting permitted by the computing task;
a degree of digital signal processing used by the computing task;
a degree of integer processing used by the computing task;
a degree of background execution permitted by the computing task; and
an operating system used by the computing task.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining the workload attributes includes determining a user of the first information handling system associated with the application.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein determining the workload policy includes:
determining the workload policy based on the user.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuring the hardware resources includes accessing operating system drivers for the hardware resources, and wherein the hardware resources are selected from at least one of:
a number of processor cores available;
a degree of exclusive access to processor cores available;
a degree of processor multithreading available;
a degree of background execution available;
a degree of user mode execution available;
a processor frequency;
a processor architecture;
a processor cache architecture;
a processor power state;
a processor cache capacity available;
a processor power consumption available;
an instruction set architecture available;
a graphics processing unit available;
a memory capacity available;
a memory throughput available;
a degree of non-uniform memory access available;
a storage capacity available;
a storage throughput available;
a storage latency available;
a network capacity available;
a network throughput available;
a network latency available;
a system reboot feature;
a system power down feature; and
an operating system executing on the information handling system.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
monitoring, by the application, an operational state of at least some of the hardware resources, wherein the configuring the hardware resources is performed based on the operational state.

8. At least one non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising computer readable instructions for optimizing workloads on information handling systems by applications, the instructions, when executed, cause a processor to:
determine, by an application, a computing task for execution by the application at an information handling system;
determine, by the application, workload attributes of the computing task, the workload attributes specifying dependency of the computing task on hardware resources included in the information handling system and specifying a degree of acceleration by a graphics processing unit to be utilized by the computing task;
identify, by the application, the hardware resources present at the information handling system;
monitor, by the application, an operational state of at least some of the hardware resources;
based on the workload attributes determined and the hardware resources identified, determine a workload policy for the computing task, wherein the workload policy specifies the hardware resources used to execute the computing task at the information handling system;
implement, by the application, the workload policy at the information handling system, including instructions to configure of the hardware resources based on the operational state; and
execute the computing task at the information handling system in accordance with the workload policy.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions to configure the hardware resources include at least one instruction to:
access a basic input/output system of the information handling system; and
access respective hardware drivers for the hardware resources, the hardware drivers installed in an operating system executing on the information handling system.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the application accesses at least some of the hardware resources using operating system drivers, and wherein the workload attributes are selected from at least one of:
a degree of multithreading used by the computing task;
a thread priority used by the computing task;
an instruction set architecture used by the computing task;
a memory capacity used by the computing task;
a memory data throughput used by the computing task;
a memory cache capacity used by the computing task;
a memory cache architecture used by the computing task;
a degree of non-uniform memory access permitted by the computing task;
a degree of background execution permitted by the computing task;
a network latency permitted by the computing task;
a storage capacity used by the computing task;
a storage data throughput used by the computing task;
a storage latency permitted by the computing task;
a vertical synchronization setting permitted by the computing task;
a degree of digital signal processing used by the computing task;
a degree of integer processing used by the computing task;
a degree of background execution permitted by the computing task; and
an operating system used by the computing task.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the instructions to determine the workload attributes include instructions to det

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Farhan Munif M
• Ancona Rocco

Classifications

• G06F9/5044 Primary

  considering hardware capabilities · CPC title

• G06F9/505

  considering the load · CPC title

• G06F9/5011 Primary

  the resources being hardware resources other than CPUs, Servers and Terminals · CPC title

• G06F9/4881

  Scheduling strategies for dispatcher, e.g. round robin, multi-level priority queues · CPC title