Leslie, Robert and Mckenzie, Sati (1999) Evaluation of loadsharing algorithms for heterogeneous distributed systems. Computer Communications, 22 (4). pp. 376-389. ISSN 0140-3664 (doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-3664(98)00262-X)

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Abstract

The performance of loadsharing algorithms for heterogeneous distributed systems is investigated by simulation. The systems considered are networks of workstations (nodes) which differ in processing power. Two parameters are proposed for characterising system heterogeneity, namely the variance and skew of the distribution of processing power among the network nodes. A variety of networks are investigated, with the same number of nodes and total processing power, but with the processing power distributed differently among the nodes. Two loadsharing algorithms are evaluated, at overall system loadings of 50% and 90%, using job response time as the performance metric. Comparison is made with the ideal situation of ‘perfect sharing’, where it is assumed that the communication delays are zero and that complete knowledge is available about job lengths and the loading at the different nodes, so that an arriving job can be sent to the node where it will be completed in the shortest time.

The algorithms studied are based on those already in use for homogeneous networks, but were adapted to take account of system heterogeneity. Both algorithms take into account the differences in the processing powers of the nodes in their location policies, but differ in the extent to which they ‘discriminate’ against the slower nodes. It is seen that the relative performance of the two is strongly influenced by the system utilisation and the distribution of processing power among the nodes.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	loadsharing, performance, simulation, heterogeneous networks
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics
Pre-2014 Departments:	School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences > Computer & Computational Science Research Group School of Computing & Mathematical Sciences > Department of Computer Systems Technology
Related URLs:	Publisher
Last Modified:	14 Oct 2016 08:59
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/139

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