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Optimal Server Allocation in Reconfigurable Clusters with Multiple Job Types

Lookup NU author(s): Emeritus Professor Isi Mitrani

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Abstract

We examine a system where the servers in a cluster may be switched dynamically and preemptively from one kind of work to another. The demand consists of M job types joining separate queues, with different arrival and service characteristics, and also differentrelative importance represented by appropriate holding costs. The switching of a server from queue i to queue j incurs a cost which may be monetary or may involve a period of unavailability. The optimal switching policy is obtained numerically by solving a dynamic programming equation. Two simple heuristic policies -- one static and one dynamic -- are evaluated by simulation and are compared to the optimal policy. The dynamic heuristic is shown to perform well over a range of parameters, including changes in demand.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Palmer J, Mitrani I

Publication type: Report

Publication status: Unknown

Series Title: School of Computing Science Technical Report Series

Year: 2003

Pages: 16

Print publication date: 01/12/2003

Source Publication Date: December 2003

Report Number: 823

Institution: School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle upon Tyne

Place Published: Newcastle upon Tyne

URL: http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/publications/trs/papers/823.pdf


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