Evaluating Load Balancing Policies for Performance and Energy-Efficiency

Freek van den Berg, Björn Frits Postema, Boudewijn R.H.M. Haverkort

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionAcademic

    1 Citation (Scopus)
    151 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Nowadays, more and more increasingly hard computations are performed in challenging fields like weather forecasting, oil and gas exploration, and cryptanalysis. Many of such computations can be implemented using a computer cluster with a large number of servers. Incoming computation requests are then, via a so-called load balancing policy, distributed over the servers to ensure optimal performance. Additionally, being able to switch-off some servers during low period of workload, gives potential to reduced energy consumption. Therefore, load balancing forms, albeit indirectly, a trade-off between performance and energy consumption. In this paper, we introduce a syntax for load-balancing policies to dynamically select a server for each request based on relevant criteria, including the number of jobs queued in servers, power states of servers, and transition delays between power states of servers. To evaluate many policies, we implement two load balancers in: (i) iDSL, a language and tool-chain for evaluating service-oriented systems, and (ii) a simulation framework in AnyLogic. Both implementations are successfully validated by comparison of the results.
    Original languageUndefined
    Title of host publicationProceedings of the 14th International Workshop on Quantitative Aspects of Programming Languages and Systems, QAPL 2016
    PublisherOpen Publishing Association
    Pages98-117
    Number of pages20
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Apr 2016
    Event14th International Workshop on Quantitative Aspects of Programming Languages and Systems, QAPL 2016 - Eindhoven, Netherlands
    Duration: 2 Apr 20163 Apr 2016
    Conference number: 14
    http://qapl16.doc.ic.ac.uk/

    Publication series

    NameElectronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science
    PublisherOpen Publishing Association
    Volume227
    ISSN (Print)2075-2180
    ISSN (Electronic)2075-2180

    Workshop

    Workshop14th International Workshop on Quantitative Aspects of Programming Languages and Systems, QAPL 2016
    Abbreviated titleAQPL 2016
    Country/TerritoryNetherlands
    CityEindhoven
    Period2/04/163/04/16
    Internet address

    Keywords

    • EWI-27339
    • IR-102548
    • METIS-319466

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