Chapter 18 - Resource and Service Management

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the management of Grid resources and services. It introduces a generalized resource management framework and uses it as a basis for characterizing existing approaches and for defining a direction for resource management development, particularly as framed within the Open Grid Services Architecture. Although there are many facets to acquiring capabilities for a Grid application, the term “resource management” is used to describe all aspects of the process: locating a capability, arranging for its use, utilizing it, and monitoring its state. Resource management in traditional computing systems is a well-studied problem. Resource managers exist for many computing environments and include batch schedulers, workflow engines, and operating systems. These systems are local, have complete control of a resource, and thus, can implement the mechanisms and policies needed for effective use of that resource in isolation. The core goal of resource management is to establish a mutual agreement between a resource provider and a resource consumer by which the provider agrees to supply a capability that can be used to perform some task on behalf of the consumer.