FAX: Scalable and Differentiable Federated Primitives in JAX

Konsep Inti

FAX introduces a JAX-based library for large-scale distributed and federated computations, leveraging sharding mechanisms and automatic differentiation to simplify the expression of federated computations.
The main thesis of the author is to provide a performant and scalable framework for federated computations in the data center by embedding building blocks as primitives in JAX.

Abstrak

FAX is a JAX-based library designed to support large-scale distributed and federated computations. It leverages sharding mechanisms and automatic differentiation to simplify the expression of federated computations. The library provides an easily programmable, performant, and scalable framework for federated computations in the data center. FAX enables efficient and scalable training of language models through its unique approach to handling federated computations.
The ability to scale compute-intensive programs across distributed environments is crucial for modern machine learning success. FAX brings benefits like sharding, JIT compilation, and AD to computations used in federated learning. The library allows clients to collaborate on ML tasks without sharing data, enabling parallel model training with periodic synchronization.
Federated learning applications may involve on-device clients or data center software. FAX's design ensures compatibility with production systems running federated computations on mobile devices. By embedding building blocks into JAX in a JIT-compatible manner, FAX enables efficient sharding across devices while implementing federated AD seamlessly.
The implementation of FAX focuses on representing federated values as arrays with extra dimensions indicating their placement. Federated computations defined via FAX operate on these arrays, ensuring scalability, data center performance, and efficient implementation of federated AD. The library also addresses weak scaling challenges by optimizing computation partitioning across devices.
Overall, FAX's innovative approach to handling large-scale distributed and federated computations showcases its potential to accelerate research in machine learning algorithms involving communication between server and clients.

Statistik

Shape: [1, 4]
Shape: [3, 4]
Model Size: 350M
Cohort Size: 2048
Tokens per Round: 3.355 × 10^7
FLOPs per Round: 2.293 × 10^13

Kutipan

"Federated AD makes expressing efficient algorithms easier."
"Federating AD can accelerate algorithm development and research in FL."
"Federating AD preserves compatibility with privacy-preserving mechanisms."

Wawasan Utama Disaring Dari

FAX

by Keith Rush,Z... pada arxiv.org 03-13-2024

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2403.07128.pdf

Pertanyaan yang Lebih Dalam

Why is it important for modern ML frameworks to support large-scale distributed computing

Modern ML frameworks need to support large-scale distributed computing for several reasons. Firstly, the size and complexity of machine learning models have increased significantly in recent years, making it impractical or impossible to train them on a single machine due to memory constraints. Distributed computing allows these models to be trained across multiple machines, enabling the handling of massive datasets and complex model architectures. Secondly, distributed computing offers improved performance by parallelizing computations across multiple nodes, reducing training time significantly. This scalability is crucial for meeting the demands of real-world applications where speed and efficiency are paramount. Lastly, distributed computing enhances fault tolerance as tasks can be rerouted if one node fails, ensuring continuous operation without interruptions.

What are the key benefits of implementing Federating Automatic Differentiation (federating AD)

Implementing Federated Automatic Differentiation (federated AD) provides several key benefits in the context of federated learning and beyond:

Efficient Algorithm Development: Federated AD simplifies the development of efficient algorithms by automating gradient computations through backpropagation techniques.
Accelerated Research: It accelerates research in federated learning by providing an easy-to-use mechanism for expressing and optimizing algorithms that involve communication between server and clients.
Privacy Preservation: Federated AD preserves compatibility with privacy-preserving mechanisms like differential privacy and secure aggregation while allowing for advanced optimization techniques like federated hypergradient descent.
Scalability: It aids in scaling up federated learning systems by streamlining the process of developing new algorithms that operate efficiently on large-scale distributed environments.

How does FAX address weak scaling challenges when optimizing computation partitioning

FAX addresses weak scaling challenges when optimizing computation partitioning through explicit sharding annotations embedded within its implementation:

Sharding Annotations: FAX uses static and dynamic sharding constraints to guide compilers like GSPMD in efficiently partitioning computations across devices based on workload sizes.
Optimized Resource Allocation: By specifying how building blocks should be sharded at function-tracing time, FAX ensures that resources are allocated optimally even as workload sizes increase.
Memory Efficiency: The internal sharding annotations prevent memory footprint issues during computation scaling by guiding compilers towards efficient resource utilization.
Performance Stability: With these annotations intact, FAX maintains near-constant runtime performance even at high cohort sizes or model complexities, ensuring stable performance under varying workloads while leveraging available resources effectively.

By incorporating these explicit sharding guidelines into its design principles, FAX overcomes weak scaling challenges commonly encountered in large-scale distributed environments during computation optimization processes such as FedAvg rounds on transformer language models with millions or billions of parameters across numerous clients or cohorts simultaneously processed on TPU chips at scale."