High-Performance Computing for Machine Learning at Scale

High-Performance Computing (HPC) provides the computational power needed to tackle the most demanding machine learning challenges. This guide explores how to leverage HPC resources effectively.

Understanding HPC Architecture

Cluster Components

Modern HPC clusters consist of:

• Compute Nodes: Individual servers with CPUs/GPUs

• Interconnect: High-speed network (InfiniBand, Ethernet)

• Storage: Parallel file systems (Lustre, GPFS)

• Scheduler: Job management (Slurm, PBS)

Node Types

Check available partitions
sinfo
View node specifications
scontrol show nodes

Parallel Computing Paradigms

Data Parallelism

Distribute data across multiple processors:

import torch.distributed as dist
from torch.nn.parallel import DistributedDataParallel
Initialize process group
dist.init_process_group(backend='nccl', 
init_method='env://')
Wrap model for distributed training
model = DistributedDataParallel(model)

Model Parallelism

Split large models across devices:

Pipeline parallelism example
class PipelineModel(nn.Module):
def __init__(self):
super().__init__()
self.layer1 = nn.Linear(1000, 1000).to('cuda:0')
self.layer2 = nn.Linear(1000, 1000).to('cuda:1')
def forward(self, x):
x = self.layer1(x.to('cuda:0'))
x = self.layer2(x.to('cuda:1'))
return x

Job Scheduling and Resource Management

Slurm Job Scripts

#!/bin/bash
#SBATCH --job-name=ml_training
#SBATCH --nodes=4
#SBATCH --ntasks-per-node=8
#SBATCH --gres=gpu:8
#SBATCH --time=24:00:00
#SBATCH --partition=gpu
module load cuda/11.8
module load python/3.9
srun python distributed_training.py

Resource Optimization

• CPU Binding: Pin processes to specific cores

• Memory Allocation: Request appropriate memory per task

• GPU Scheduling: Optimize GPU utilization across nodes

Storage and I/O Optimization

Parallel File Systems

Optimize data loading for HPC
import torch
from torch.utils.data import DataLoader
Use multiple workers for data loading
dataloader = DataLoader(
dataset,
batch_size=32,
num_workers=8,  # Match CPU cores
pin_memory=True,
persistent_workers=True
)

Data Staging Strategies

1. Local SSD: Stage frequently accessed data

2. Burst Buffers: High-speed intermediate storage

3. Prefetching: Load next batch while processing current

Performance Monitoring

System Metrics

Monitor GPU utilization
nvidia-smi dmon
Check network utilization
iftop -i ib0
Monitor file system performance
iostat -x 1

Application Profiling

PyTorch profiler for HPC
with torch.profiler.profile(
activities=[
torch.profiler.ProfilerActivity.CPU,
torch.profiler.ProfilerActivity.CUDA,
],
schedule=torch.profiler.schedule(wait=1, warmup=1, active=3),
on_trace_ready=torch.profiler.tensorboard_trace_handler('./log')
) as prof:
for step, batch in enumerate(dataloader):
# Training step
prof.step()

Best Practices for HPC ML

1. Scalability Testing: Verify performance scales with resources

2. Checkpointing: Save model state for fault tolerance

3. Resource Monitoring: Track utilization and bottlenecks

4. Communication Optimization: Minimize inter-node communication

HPC enables researchers to tackle previously impossible problems by providing massive computational resources and optimized software stacks.