A Negotiation Protocol for Dynamic Load Distribution Using Batch Task Assignments

Abstract

Adynamic load distribution(LD) algorithm improves the performance of a distributed system by using current system load information to relocate application tasks among processing nodes, so that workload imbalance in the system can be smoothed out. In this paper, we propose aguarantee and reservation protocol(GR protocol) which can be used by dynamic LD algorithms. In contrast to the commonly usedsingle task assignments, GR protocol usesbatch task assignments, meaning that multiple tasks can be selected for remote execution during each single sender–receiver negotiation session. GR protocol is used to obtain a mutual agreement between a task sender and a receiver on an appropriate task batch size. GR protocol is based on avirtual workload modelwhich ensures coordinated even dispersements of tasks in the system. This model also avoidsprocessor thrashing, a situation when a receiver node is flooded with excessive remotely assigned tasks and thus becomes overloaded inadvertently.