Ensuring that real applications perform well on NCAR computing platforms is critical for getting the best value out of complex and costly high-performance computing and storage resources. Climate and weather applications are large, often with millions of lines of code, and are generally difficult to configure in a way that permits ease of use for things such as system deployments, upgrades, and procurements.
Thus, NCAR has developed a suite of application kernels, micro-benchmarks, and full applications with moderate input cases that can be used as proxies for the full applications and still provide meaningful information and insights into system performance. A few of these are well-known benchmarks that are commonly used in HPC for characterizing system performance.
NCAR's benchmarking applications are listed in the tables below, along with file names, sizes, and checksums. These packages include source files, build scripts, and input data sets required to compile and run the applications. In cases where the benchmarks depend on applications and libraries that are not part of the package distributions, you will find version number and download details in the README files.
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Release Date: February 2, 2015
Last Updated: August 29, 2018
The benchmark download packages are available through the Globus-based NCAR Data Sharing Service. Instructions are given below for obtaining a Globus account, installing the required Globus software, and downloading the benchmark packages via the NCAR HPC Benchmarks endpoint. See the Globus instructions below for more information.
Instructions for all benchmarks are available via Google Docs or direct download at this link:
Application Benchmark Instructions
These are the instructions for each of the application benchmarks in the table below.
| Application Benchmarks | Description | File | Size (Bytes) | MD5 Checksum |
| HOMME | HOMME benchmark and HOMME_COMM communication kernel | HOMME_v1.tar.gz | 2728264 | b35d135f52b488d0bf9c1a07f2d02a93 |
| HPCG | High Performance Conjugate Gradient Solver | hpcg-2.4_v1.tar.gz | 69974 | fef8b6614ddaf3c45b8dd1b8fb867df7 |
| LES | Large Eddy Simulation benchmark | LES_v1.tar.gz | 73200 | f9017e36b1ea0f02a2169770b37fad54 |
| MG2 | Morrison Gettelman cloud microphysics kernel | MG2kernel_v1.tar.gz | 282822 | 53befeb7e418c074c80f6a5ad025144c |
| MPAS-A | MPAS Atmosphere benchmark | MPAS_3.2_v1.tar.gz | 2259609261 | e9736920454952afb7e13c2e4f859457 |
| POPperf | POP Ocean model benchmark | POPperf_v1.tar.gz | 66480926 | 0fd078478dc6b5f326701ac09713fa49 |
| WRF | Weather Research and Forecasting model | WRFV3_BENCH_v1.tar.gz | 13260795166 | 4d5a7c02656dca8042cebe1e656c793b |
| CESM | Community Earth System Model | Used in numerical correctness and system acceptance testing. http://www.cesm.ucar.edu/ |
| I/O and Microbenchmarks | Description | File | Size (Bytes) | MD5 Checksum |
| STREAM | Node level memory benchmark | STREAM_v1.tar.gz | 10268 | ee520d700a1fef3f746b9a8117952635 |
| SHOC | Scalable HeterOgeneous Computing (GPU benchmark) | shoc_v1.tar.gz | 10418387 | f3a4146180cb720a04104ee40bd161ea |
| OSU-MPI | MPI communication benchmarks | osu-micro-benchmarks-4.4.1_v1.tar.gz | 151586 | 4bae164fc0aecd955adae1e9a9dc48d9 |
| IOR | I/O bandwidth and latency test | ncar_ior_v1.tgz | 144,608 | dc91a37af717005c87ec1752524ef67b |
| pyReshaper | Application I/O kernel | pyResBench_v1.tgz | 1,938,268,372 | 67c9231e8bacb644d1a952b8793dc609 |
| mdtest | Metadata performance test | ncar_mdtest_v1.tgz | 93,074 | c9f69c6cdc335409f96ebce7764babad |
Globus instructions
Step 1: Obtain a Globus account
Go to www.globus.org and click the Sign Up button in the upper-right corner.
Step 2: Install Globus Connect Personal
Go to www.globus.org. Under Products select Globus Connect and then Get Globus Connect Personal. Versions are available for Mac OS X, Linux and Windows.
Step 3: Use Globus to download benchmarks
- Log in at www.globus.org with your Globus account
- Select Transfer Files
- In the left-hand window, enter NCAR HPC Benchmarks as the endpoint
- In the right-hand window, enter an endpoint at your own site or the endpoint that you established with Globus Connect
- Select the benchmark files you wish to download and click the right-hand arrow
Your download will be submitted through the Globus Transfer service. You will receive an email when your transfer has completed or you can monitor from the Transfer window by selecting refresh list in the right-hand window.