Article: Modelling distributed computing workloads to support the study of scheduling decisions Journal: International Journal of Computational Science and Engineering (IJCSE) 2015 Vol.11 No.2 pp.155 - 166 Abstract: Process scheduling is one of the most important issues in distributed computing. However, this problem still requires further formalisation to understand the consequences of scheduler decisions. To overcome this drawback, this paper defines the behaviour of computer workloads in terms of a dynamical system model, in which next workload states depend on previous ones. The model considers all variables which influence a computer workload at a time instant t, i.e., received, migrated and processed workloads, as well as the degree of dependence among application processes. It has been validated by a set of experiments which consider: 1) a real-world application, running on a GNU/Linux system; 2) a simulated model, in which all variables are modelled according to probability density functions; 3) an emulated scenario, which provides an environment similar to a real-world distributed system. The experiments allowed the conclusion that the proposed model is consistent with the real-world environment and, therefore, both simulator and emulator present the same tendencies of the real-world scenario. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Modelling distributed computing workloads to support the study of scheduling decisions

Authors: Paulo Henrique Ribeiro Gabriel; Rodrigo Fernandes De Mello

Addresses: Faculty of Computer Science, Federal University of Uberlândia, Av João Naves de Ávila, 2121, 38400-902 Uberlândia, MG, Brazil ' Department of Computer Sciences, Institute of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, University of São Paulo, P.O. Box 668, 13560-970 São Carlos, SP, Brazil

Abstract: Process scheduling is one of the most important issues in distributed computing. However, this problem still requires further formalisation to understand the consequences of scheduler decisions. To overcome this drawback, this paper defines the behaviour of computer workloads in terms of a dynamical system model, in which next workload states depend on previous ones. The model considers all variables which influence a computer workload at a time instant t, i.e., received, migrated and processed workloads, as well as the degree of dependence among application processes. It has been validated by a set of experiments which consider: 1) a real-world application, running on a GNU/Linux system; 2) a simulated model, in which all variables are modelled according to probability density functions; 3) an emulated scenario, which provides an environment similar to a real-world distributed system. The experiments allowed the conclusion that the proposed model is consistent with the real-world environment and, therefore, both simulator and emulator present the same tendencies of the real-world scenario.

Keywords: process scheduling; workload modelling; dynamical systems; distributed computing; scheduling decisions; simulation; probability density functions; emulation; real-world scenarios.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCSE.2015.071879

International Journal of Computational Science and Engineering, 2015 Vol.11 No.2, pp.155 - 166

Received: 20 Sep 2012
Accepted: 10 Dec 2012
Published online: 22 Sep 2015 *

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Title: Modelling distributed computing workloads to support the study of scheduling decisions

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