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8.5   Checkpointing

The recommended way of working with MAI is to first position the workload by running standard in-order Simics. Using in-order simulation is magnitudes faster than running in micro-architectural mode.

We recommend the following steps for your simulation setup:

  1. Boot the machine in in-order Simics. Use one of the provided scripts in the target directory. Most of the machines will log in automatically.

  2. Import your workload by using SimicsFS for example. Take a checkpoint.

  3. Add caches to the configuration using a script. Warm the caches by running up to the point where your actual workload starts. If you are using other components that needs warming this may be done in this phase too. I branch predictor could for example be warmed up by using the tracing facilities in Simics. This time run with the -stall option. Cache simulation is not supported by the normal execution mode. Take another checkpoint.

  4. Start Simics in MAI mode from the second checkpoint: 

    # ./simics -ma -c checkpoint2

    Use a script to add your micro-architectural model and possibly consistency controllers to the configuration. Now you can start simulating.

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