Tracking Network Contention

An apparatus for tracking network contention on links among compute nodes of an operational group in a point-to-point data communications network of a parallel computer, each compute node connected to an adjacent compute node in the point-to-point data communications network through a link, the apparatus comprising a computer processor, a computer memory operatively coupled to the computer processor, the computer memory having disposed within it computer program instructions capable of:

• maintaining, by a network contention module on each compute node in the operational group, a local contention counter for each compute node, each local contention counter representing network contention on links among the compute nodes originating from the compute node;
• and
• maintaining a global contention counter, the global contention counter representing network contention currently on all links among the compute nodes in the operational group.

A computer program product for tracking network contention on links among compute nodes of an operational group in a point-to-point data communications network of a parallel computer, each compute node connected to an adjacent compute node in the point-to-point data communications network through a link, the computer program product disposed in a computer readable medium, the computer program product comprising computer program instructions capable of:

• maintaining, by a network contention module on each compute node in the operational group, a local contention counter for each compute node, each local contention counter representing network contention on links among the compute nodes originating from the compute node;
• and
• maintaining a global contention counter, the global contention counter representing network contention currently on all links among the compute nodes in the operational group.