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Overview

WisIO (Wisdom from I/O Behavior) is an open-source tool that helps HPC users and system administrators identify and analyze I/O bottlenecks in their applications. By analyzing your workflow performance data, WisIO automatically detects performance issues and pinpoints their root causes through comprehensive I/O analysis.

What WisIO Solves​

As an HPC user or system administrator, you may encounter these common I/O challenges:

  • Unexplained performance degradation during application runs with unclear causes
  • Complex I/O patterns across distributed resources that are difficult to analyze manually
  • Large volumes of performance data that are overwhelming to sift through
  • Hidden bottlenecks that standard profiling tools might miss
  • Resource underutilization due to unoptimized I/O strategies

How WisIO Works​

WisIO makes analyzing complex I/O issues simple with a straightforward workflow:

Simple 4-Step Process​

  1. Collect: Run your HPC application with Darshan or another I/O tracer
  2. Analyze: Feed your trace data into WisIO
  3. Review: Examine the detailed bottleneck reports
  4. Optimize: Apply changes to your application or system based on the analysis

The entire process is designed to be lightweight and non-intrusive to your workflow, with minimal setup required.

Key Features​

Multi-Perspective Analysis​

WisIO doesn't just look at your I/O problems from one angle - it examines them from multiple perspectives to ensure nothing is missed:

This approach finds issues that would be missed by tools that only look at a single aspect of I/O performance. For example, a bottleneck might only appear when specific processes access particular files during certain time periods - WisIO can detect these complex patterns.

Smart Diagnostics Engine​

WisIO's intelligent analysis engine doesn't just find problems - it explains them in detail:

The diagnostics engine:

  • Prioritizes issues based on their impact on performance
  • Provides detailed analysis of detected bottlenecks
  • Explains problems in clear, human-readable language
  • Allows you to add custom rules for your specific environment

Designed for Scale​

WisIO handles your data efficiently, no matter how large your workflow:

  • Fast Analysis: Process multi-terabyte datasets in minutes rather than hours
  • Out-of-Core Processing: Works well even on systems with limited memory
  • Parallel Processing: Utilizes available computing resources to speed up analysis

Who Should Use WisIO​

WisIO is ideal for:

  • HPC Application Developers looking to optimize I/O performance
  • System Administrators trying to diagnose storage bottlenecks
  • Researchers working with data-intensive scientific workflows

Common Scenarios​

Here are some common scenarios where WisIO helps users:

  1. Application Performance Analysis: "My simulation runs slower than expected and I don't know why."

    • WisIO identifies unbalanced I/O patterns and provides detailed diagnostics

  2. Storage System Analysis: "Our file system performance isn't matching the hardware specifications."

    • WisIO reveals specific I/O patterns that impact system performance

  3. Workflow Investigation: "Some stages of our pipeline are much slower than others."

    • WisIO pinpoints where and when bottlenecks occur in multi-stage workflows

Getting Started​

Ready to analyze your I/O performance? See our Getting Started Guide for:

  • Installation instructions
  • Basic usage examples
  • Command-line interface tutorial
  • Sample analysis reports