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A distributed load‐balancing policy for a multicomputer
Author(s) -
Barak Am,
Shiloh Am
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
software: practice and experience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.437
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1097-024X
pISSN - 0038-0644
DOI - 10.1002/spe.4380150905
Subject(s) - computer science , load balancing (electrical power) , distributed computing , workstation , process (computing) , shared resource , a priori and a posteriori , network load balancing services , reliability (semiconductor) , process migration , load sharing , load management , parallel computing , computer network , fault tolerance , server , operating system , philosophy , power (physics) , geometry , mathematics , physics , engineering , epistemology , quantum mechanics , electrical engineering , grid
This paper deals with the organization of a distributed load‐balancing policy for a multicomputer system which consists of a cluster of independent computers that are interconnected by a local area communication network. We introduce three algorithms necessary to maintain load balancing in this system: the local load algorithm, used by each processor to monitor its own load; the exchange algorithm, for exchanging load information between the processors, and the process migration algorithm that uses this information to dynamically migrate processes from overloaded to underloaded processors. The policy that we present is distributed, i.e. each processor uses the same policy. It is both dynamic, responding to load changes without using an a priori knowledge of the resources that each process requires; and stable, unnecessary overloading of a processor is minimized. We give the essential details of the implementation of the policy and initial results on its performance. Our results confirm the feasibility of building distributed systems that are based on network communication for uniform access, resource sharing and improved reliability, as well as the use of workstations without a secondary storage device.