Archer:Index
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Archer: a community cyberinfrastructure for computer architecture research and education
Archer is a project recently funded by the National Science Foundation CRI program to build the foundation of an open community resource for simulation-based quantitative computer architecture research and education.
With the ever-increasing complexity of systems, simulations with representative benchmarks are essential to computer architecture research. To thoroughly evaluate a new computer architecture idea, researchers and students need access to high-performance computers, simulation tools, benchmarks, and datasets - which are not often readily available to many in the community. The Archer project addresses this need by providing computer architecture researchers, educators and students with a cyberinfrastructure where users in the community benefit from sharing hardware, software, tools, data, documentation, and educational material.
Archer Overview
Archer is a community cyberinfrastructure bringing together:
- A Grid of computational resources: Over three years, Archer will aggregate hundreds of cores across a distributed high-throughput computing infrastructure - in essence, a Grid of computing resources available for running architecture simulation jobs. A unique feature in Archer is that this infrastructure is not static - it is only a seed pool of resources, and users can easily contribute with resources of their own by seamlessly deploying Archer virtual machines. The infrastructure is able to grow in capacity as the community grows.
- Ready-to-use VMs with Condor batch-scheduling: Central to Archer is a virtual machine based "Grid appliance" that packages all the software needed to schedule and run architecture simulation jobs conveniently. It also uses the Condor batch job scheduler, a robust system which has been extensively applied to solve computer architecture problems. With VM and Condor integrated, the self-configuring, plug-and-play Archer virtual appliances make it very easy for computer architects to to connect from their own desktops to pools of Condor high-throughput computing resources, and to deploy their own Linux Condor pools on their own resources (for example, instructional lab Windows PCs idle at night). A small local pool can be brought up in a matter of hours by a graduate or undergraduate student.
- A Wiki aggregating content of interest to the community: tools, data, documentation and educational materials: Another central part of Archer is its Wiki - a Web knowledge repository focused on the content that is relevant to the Architecture community - because it is provided by members of the community. Archer facilitates sharing of pre-configured executable tools, datasets, self-contained examples and educational materials because its virtual machines provide a consistent, homogeneous environment to its users. It also facilitates publishing and discovery of content through our Wiki - it uses the same MediaWiki software behind systems like Wikipedia to make it very easy for users like you to add your own content to a shared knowledge base. Once you register as a user of Archer, you will also be able to share your own content with the community, such as tutorials, educational materials, and links to applications.
Archer is currently in beta-testing: a pool of approximately 60 CPUs is readily accessible from an easy-to-install virtual machine appliance. Click here to watch a 5-minute video of the Grid appliance tutorial.
We are looking for users and input from the community. If you like Archer, please disseminate to your colleagues so our community grows - here is our overview flier.
Archer Wiki Index
Archer Infrastructure
Learn more about the hardware infrastructure behind Archer, and learn how to contribute with your own resources.
Archer Software
Learn more about the software infrastructure behind Archer: virtual machines, virtual networks, and Condor.
Self-guided Tutorial: Archer Express
Get started using Archer Express with a hands-on tutorial within 15-30 minutes.
Self-guided Tutorial: Archer Global
Learn how to gain access to the global Archer pool, and to applications with Archer site licenses (including Simics).
FAQs
Frequently asked questions about Archer.
Application HOW-TOs
Step-by-step tutorials on how to run various architecture simulation tools (including SESC and SimpleScalar) on Archer.
Benchmarks and datasets
Find pre-configured benchmarks/datasets for simulators that run on Archer and contribute with your own links.
Educational Modules
Hands-on simulation-based educational modules that use the Archer infrastructure.
Helpful resources
Pointers to useful documentation on Condor, virtualization, and the Grid Appliance.
User groups
Learn about the various ways to interact with Archer users and developers.
People
Learn more about the Archer developers and users.
Acknowledgments
Government sponsors
 | This work is sponsored by the National Science Foundation under CRI collaborative awards 0751112, 0750847, 0750851, 0750852, 0750860, 0750868, 0750884, and 0751091. |
Industry sponsors
The Archer project gratefully acknowledges an academic site license donation for Simics from Virtutech.
