Performance-based workload distribution on grid environments

Abstract

Imbalanced workload-distribution can significantly degrade performance of grid computing environments. In the past, the theory of divisible load has been widely investigated in static heterogeneous systems. However, it has not been widely applied to grid environments, which are characterized by heterogeneous resources and dynamic environments. In this paper, we propose a performance-based approach to workload distribution for master-slave types of applications on grids. Furthermore, applications with irregular workloads are addressed. We implemented three kinds of applications and conducted experimentations on our grid test-beds. Experimental results show that this approach performs more efficiently than conventional schemes. Consequently, we claim that dynamic workload distribution can benefit applications on grid environments.