Oracle R Distribution 2-13.2 Update Available

< size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Oracle has released an update to the Oracle R Distribution, an Oracle-supported distribution of open source R< >< size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">. Oracle R Distribution 2-13.2 now contains the ability to dynamically link the following libraries on both Windows and Linux:< >

• < size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The Intel Math Kernel Library (MKL) on Intel chips< >
• < size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">The AMD Core Math Library (ACML) on AMD chips< >< size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">< >
  

< size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">To take advantage of the performance enhancements provided by Intel MKL or AMD ACML in Oracle R Distribution, simply add the MKL or ACML shared library directory to the LD_LIBRARY_PATH system environment variable. This automatically enables MKL or ACML to make use of all available processors, vastly speeding up linear algebra computations and eliminating the need to recompile R.  < >< size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Even on a single core, the optimized algorithms in the Intel MKL libraries are faster than using R’s standard BLAS library.< >

< size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Open-source R is linked to NetLib’s BLAS libraries, but they are not multi-threaded and only use one core. While R’s internal BLAS are efficient for most computations, it’s possible to recompile R to link to a different, multi-threaded BLAS library to improve performance on eligible calculations. C< >< size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">ompiling and linking to R yourself can be involved, < >< size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">but for many, the significantly improved calculation speed justifies the effort.< >< size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> < >< size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Oracle R Distribution notably simplifies the process of using external math libraries by enabling R to auto-load MKL or ACML.< >< size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> For R commands that don’t link to BLAS code, taking advantage of database parallelism using embedded R execution in Oracle R Enterprise is the route to improved performance.< >

< size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">For more information about rebuilding R with different BLAS libraries, see the linear algebra section in the R Installation and Administration manual. As always, the Oracle R Distribution is available as a free download to anyone.< > < size="2" face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Questions and comments are welcome on the Oracle R Forum.< >

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