Scheduling Parallel Computations in Clusters of Workstations

技术的巨大进步，加上经济因素，已经产生了一种新的并行计算模式，其中工作站连接在一起，作为一台并行计算机协同工作-工作站网络（NOW）。在紧密耦合的并行计算环境中，许多保证处理器间高效通信和协调的算法设备不再保证现在的效率。该项目从理论上理解了提高和降低NOWs中并行计算效率的因素。它还开发了算法技术，将这种理解转化为实际有效的调度策略。研究中出现的调度算法将为大型、重要的计算类提供可证明的可预测性能，例如在许多科学应用中出现的那些计算类。

Dramatic advances in the technologies, coupled with economic factors, have given rise to a new modality of parallel computing wherein workstations are connected together to act cooperatively as a single parallel computer - a Network of Workstations (NOW). Many algorithmic devices that ensured efficient interprocessor communication and coordination in a tightly coupled parallel computing environment no longer guarantee efficiency within a NOW. This project derives theoretical understanding of factors that enhance - and detract from - efficiency of parallel computing in NOWs. It also develops algorithmic techniques that translate such understanding into practically efficient scheduling strategies. The scheduling algorithms that emerge from research will provide provably predictable performance for large, significant classes of computations, such as those that arise in many scientific applications.