NoteThe Intel® C++ Compiler with OpenMP* support provides a production support library, libguide.a. This library enables you to run an application under different execution modes. It is used for normal or performance-critical runs on applications that have already been tuned.
Note
The libguide.lib library is linked dynamically, regardless of command-line options, to avoid performance issues that are hard to debug.
The Intel compiler with OpenMP enables you to run an application under different execution modes that can be specified at run time. The libraries support the serial, turnaround, and throughput modes. These modes are selected by using the KMP_LIBRARY environment variable at run time.
The serial mode forces parallel applications to run on a single processor.
In a dedicated (batch or single user) parallel environment where all processors are exclusively allocated to the program for its entire run, it is most important to effectively utilize all of the processors all of the time. The turnaround mode is designed to keep active all of the processors involved in the parallel computation in order to minimize the execution time of a single job. In this mode, the worker threads actively wait for more parallel work, without yielding to other threads.
Note
Avoid over-allocating system resources. This occurs if either too many threads have been specified, or if too few processors are available at run time. If system resources are over-allocated, this mode will cause poor performance. The throughput mode should be used instead if this occurs.
In a multi-user environment where the load on the parallel machine is not constant or where the job stream is not predictable, it may be better to design and tune for throughput. This minimizes the total time to run multiple jobs simultaneously. In this mode, the worker threads will yield to other threads while waiting for more parallel work.
The throughput mode is designed to make the program aware of its environment (that is, the system load) and to adjust its resource usage to produce efficient execution in a dynamic environment. Throughput mode is the default.