MATLAB: Idle labs on Parallel Computing Toolbox

MATLABParallel Computing Toolbox

I use a network server that is shared with other users in the company to perform heavy calculations with Matlab.

My question is, does Matlab reserve his parallel workers even when idle?

If, for example, I open a matlabpool of 12 labs, does that mean that even when I'm not using Matlab, the other users have 12 cores less to use for themselves? Or does Matlab use them only when asked to?

Best Answer

Hi,

Does Matlab reserve his parallel workers even when idle?

Yes, when you open a matlabpool of 12 labs, the others have 12 labs less to use. A matlabpool is like an "interactive job" which takes workers like every other job.

Related Solutions

MATLAB: Requirements for opening a matlabpool

You have to have the parallel computing toolbox (PCT).

MATLAB: Use both multi core CPUs

You need to edit the 'local' parallel profile to set the maximum number of workers to 32. See the doc. Once you've done that, you should be able to issue the following command:

parpool('local', 32)

and launch 32 workers.

Note that if MATLAB by default does not consider hyper-threaded cores, as these tend not to perform well for numerically intensive computations. So, you might well find that running 32 workers is actually slower than running 16, depending on the precise nature of your computation.

Best Answer

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MATLAB: Requirements for opening a matlabpool

MATLAB: Use both multi core CPUs

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