Can the oneAPI HPC Toolkit be used with Xeon Phi x100 Coprocessors and x200 Host processors?

[Hoagiebot]

Can the oneAPI HPC toolkit be used to develop and compile code for Inetl Xeon Phi x100 Coprocessors and x200 Host processors?

To explain my situation in greater detail, I am in possession of two Xeon Phi 7250 workstations as well as an E5 Xeon system with several Xeon Phi 3120A co-processors installed as part of a home lab setup.  As you can imagine, I have made a significant monetary investment in this hardware out of my own pocket.  Last month I had attempted to get approved for an open source developer license for Intel Parallel Studio XE so that I would be able to write and compile code targeting these x100 and x200-series Xeon Phi's.  Since I was writing code for self-education and to demonstrate at local technology fairs and computer user group meetings I was more than happy to place all of my code under an open source license to qualify for Intel's open source developer program.  For reasons that I have not been informed of, Intel denied my request to be granted an open source developer license. As a result, the best that I could do is download the one-month trial version of Intel Parallel Studio XE for Linux, which I was holding off doing because that would only grant me access to the compilers that I needed to compile my Xeon Phi-targeted code with for 30-days-- i.e. I had better have had everything developed and ready to be compiled before I activated the license.

Earlier this week I was thrown yet another curve-ball when I received an announcement that the oneAPI HPC Toolkit was released, and I don't know if this event is my godsend (because the oneAPI toolkit seems to be permanently free to use instead of just a trial version) or my worst nightmare (if it dropped support for my Xeon Phi's).  Can I still target and develop for x100 (KNC) and x200 (KNL) Xeon Phi's with the oneAPI HPC Toolkit, or am I suddenly totally and devastatingly screwed (especially since I can't find any way on Intel's website to download or register for even the free trail version of Intel Parallel Studio XE any longer)?   Any insight, assistance, or links to any concrete specific information addressing this issue would be very much appreciated since this doesn't seem to be covered in any of the oneAPI Toolkit documentation that I have thus far found and read.  I would really like to know whether or not my thousands of dollars in Xeon Phi hardware has not just been transformed into doorstops by this latest software release.  Thanks in advance!

[PrasanthD_intel]

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for reaching out to us.

As for your question, I am afraid the OneAPI HPC toolkit does not support Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors. However, I will once confirm with the internal team regarding the support and will get back to you soon.

The list of supported devices was mentioned on this page: Intel® oneAPI HPC Toolkit System Requirements

Regards

Prasanth

[Hoagiebot]

@PrasanthD_intel Thank you for looking into my question for me-- I really do appreciate it.  If the internal team confirms with you for certain that the oneAPI HPC Tookit does not support developing code for x100 and x200 Xeon Phi accelerators, are there any ways to still acquire a previous version of the Intel Parallel Studio XE software that does support Xeon Phi development?  Thanks again for your assistance!

[Quant_Geek]

This is the reason why it is so difficult to use Intel hardware!  Their hardware becomes obsolete so quickly with little or no support that its difficult to justify the cost.  If they, at least, open sourced their tools so that others can maintain it, it would be helpful.

I am under the same boat as you, with the x100 and x200 processors.  In comparison, I can still  use nVidia hardware/CUDA that are several generations old, albeit with performance degradation, but at least it still supported and works...

[haiqu]

Prasanthd_intel said:

> The list of supported devices was mentioned on this page: Intel® oneAPI HPC Toolkit System Requirements

There is no mention of the Xeon Phi on that page, yet we have just been told the x200 is supported. So much for your "informative" website...

[PrasanthD_intel]

Hi Daniel,

I am escalating this thread to the concerned team for better support.

They will handle your queries better.

Regards

Prasanth

[Hoagiebot]

@PrasanthD_intel Thank you for doing that for me!  Hopefully they'll be able to assist me!

[Barbara_P_Intel · Accepted solution]

KNL (Xeon Phi x200) is still listed in the oneAPI Fortran and C++ Developer Guides as a targeted architecture.

Xeon Phi x100 is no longer supported in Parallel Studio XE or oneAPI.

From the Fortran Release notes: The Intel® Xeon Phi™ x100 product family coprocessor (formerly code name Knights Corner) was officially announced end of life in January 2017. As part of the end of life process, the support for this family will only be available in the Intel® Parallel Studio XE 2017 version. Intel® Parallel Studio XE 2017 will be supported for a period of 3 years ending in January 2020 for the Intel® Xeon Phi™ x100 product family. 

And Parallel Studio XE 2017 is no longer available.

[Quant_Geek]

@Hoagiebot You can download Parallel Studio XE 2017 from the following links:

Linux

https://registrationcenter-download.intel.com/akdlm/irc_nas/tec/13709/parallel_studio_xe_2017_update8.tgz

Windows

https://registrationcenter-download.intel.com/akdlm/irc_nas/tec/13780/parallel_studio_xe_2017_update8_setup.exe

of course, you will need a valid license to install them...

[Hoagiebot]

@Barbara_P_Intel Thank you for taking the time to look into my question and for clarifying things for me.  I greatly appreciate it.  I am very glad to learn that the latest version of Intel's oneAPI Toolkit still supports Xeon Phi x200 processors as a targeted platform.  It's a relief to know that I can still get a development environment for my recently acquired Xeon Phi 7250 workstations!

With that said, I am disappointed to learn that Intel's oneAPI Toolkit does not currently support Xeon Phi x100 co-processors as a targeted platform, and that these cards have not been supported by Intel Parallel Studio XE since Parallel Studio XE 2017.  It also troubles me that licenses for Parallel Studio XE 2017 are no longer available.  I can understand Intel not wanting to support older products in an official capacity, but it would be nice if they still left options open to keep these products at least usable for customers who want to use their older hardware on their own without official support.  Perhaps something similar to what HPE used to do with their OpenVMS Hobbyist License program, which made OpenVMS operating system licenses available free of charge to hobbyists that still owned old DEC VAX and Alpha-based computers.

@Quant_Geek Thank you for making those links to where I can download Intel Parallel Studio XE 2017 available to me!  While as you stated a license is needed to use these, being able to download the software still gets me one step closer than I was before.  As an aside, I believe that I read somewhere that you can use some of the x100 Xeon Phi development libraries and header files from Intel Parallel Studio XE with the open source GCC compiler, and that doing so will enable you to be able to use GCC for x100 Xeon Phi development.  Your providing those download links for me will hopefully help me to be able to investigate that.  Thanks again!

[haiqu]

Hoagiebot:

Thanks for asking this question, and I will be watching Intel's response with great interest.

I too have a significant personal investment in Xeon Phi hardware:

- Supermicro SYS-5038K-I-NF9 "Ninja Developer Platform"  7290 workstation

- ASRock 2U4N-F/X200 quad 7250 rack

- 6 x SC3120A x100 coprocessors

- 17 x SC31S1P x100 coprocessors

This doesn't count the additional servers required to house the x100 cards, of course.

As a retired computer engineer I don't need handholding or support, but I do need liberal access to the required development tools. The learning curve turned out to be a lot longer than expected, not in any small measure because of Intel's choice of such backward versions of Linux as a base. As a former contributor to these forums (under a different name, since the system forgot me and I had to re-register today) I outlined some of the many challenges, including lack of basic facilities in Centos 7 such as a working wi-fi system.

In retirement I now have a better chance to pursue remedies and improvements, and finally get some return for my hard-earned dollars. I do have older registered versions of Parallel Studio but it's always nice to have the one with the latest improvements and the least bugs.

[LCS]

I too have a Xeon E5 + 3120A set up in my home lab and previously had a Parallel Studio 2017 student license. Is there any way to "reactivate" that license or to accelerate code (QuantumESPRESSO) with my Xeon Phi's?

[MWind2]

With active support, can I get the latest 2017 version that supports the X100 series?

Now I see above link works with login.

[Greg_Anderson_Intel]

Yes with active Intel Priority Support you can still access older versions and if the versions you are after is not there you can file a support ticket asking for access. 

[MWind2]

Right now i have no access to x200 phi, but I have 2021.2 and 2021.3 installed on one computer. Can I change some selections in the Visual Studio Intel OneAPI settings to develop for x200 if needed? If not just install 2021.2 on the same computer as the 2017  for x100?

[Greg_Anderson_Intel]

if you have acquired a version with Intel Priority Support you will have access to older releases as well. Those are available via our network of resellers or via the Intel webstore.

https://software.intel.com/content/www/us/en/develop/tools/resellers.html

https://softwarestore.intel.com/