Announcing the CERN openlab / Intel Autumn 2010 Multi-threading and Parallelism Workshop

November 10^th – November 11^th 2010, CERN

As researchers are reaching the limits of processor performance improvements by frequency scaling, it is clear that the future of computing lies in the effective utilisation of parallel and multi-core architectures. Since this significant change in computing is well underway, it is highly beneficial for programmers to be aware of the possibilities and dangers which lie ahead.

Another instance of the classic Multi-threading and Parallelism Workshop will be held on the 10^th and 11^th of October at CERN. An Intel expert and four of the openlab staff will lead the two day event and help you improve your knowledge by explaining the key intricacies of parallel programming and presenting the most efficient solutions to popular multi-threading problems. Two sessions of hands-on labs are also planned where participants will be able to improve their understanding of multi-threaded programming methodologies and learn to use tools for debugging and profiling multi-threaded applications. Non-expert users should feel more than welcome, as the course is a great opportunity to improve their knowledge.

Event highlights:

• Day 1, AM: Lectures
  • Fundamental aspects of multi-threaded and parallel computing:
  • The move to multi-core and its impact on software
  • Important parallelism and multi-threading concepts
  • OpenMP discussion
• Day 1, PM: Hands-on lab #1
  • Intel Threading Tools overview and exercises
  • Parallel programming exercises in Linux environments

• Day 2 AM: Lectures
  • POSIX Threads discussion
  • Threaded programming methodology and scalability issues
  • NUMA and inter-node communication discussion
  • New directions
  • CERN-specific parallelism related topics
• Day 2 PM: Hands-on lab #2
  • Parallel programming exercises in Linux environments

Pre-requisites:

• Familiarity with the C or C++ programming language
• Basic knowledge of Linux

The workshop is organised by CERN openlab for users affiliated with CERN, free of charge at this time. Registrations are based on a first-come first-served basis – 40 seats are available for the lectures and 25 seats for the labs – please indicate which are of interest to you during registration. Both labs are different and both should be attended in case the lab is of interest. Go to EDH in order to register. All registrations will be confirmed by e-mail – a registration in EDH does not yet guarantee a place in the workshop. Contact us for further information.

Andrzej Nowak, CERN openlab