Resource allocation to conserve energy in distributed computing

Abstract

Energy consumption is an issue in grid computing. There has been substantial research into grid resource allocation, but little research on energy aware resource allocation. We propose that altering the resource allocation mechanism to incorporate node power and performance data can make a substantial difference to both the time taken to execute tasks and the energy consumed by the grid. This paper examines the use of three simple economic resource allocation mechanisms through simulation. We discover that different mechanisms perform better under different circumstances, and that changing the resource allocation mechanism to incorporate the power and performance information of individual nodes can result in a substantial difference to the time taken to execute tasks, and over time can make a marked difference to the total energy consumption of the grid resource.