26 research outputs found

    SELFISHMIGRATE: A Scalable Algorithm for Non-clairvoyantly Scheduling Heterogeneous Processors

    Full text link
    We consider the classical problem of minimizing the total weighted flow-time for unrelated machines in the online \emph{non-clairvoyant} setting. In this problem, a set of jobs JJ arrive over time to be scheduled on a set of MM machines. Each job jj has processing length pjp_j, weight wjw_j, and is processed at a rate of ℓij\ell_{ij} when scheduled on machine ii. The online scheduler knows the values of wjw_j and ℓij\ell_{ij} upon arrival of the job, but is not aware of the quantity pjp_j. We present the {\em first} online algorithm that is {\em scalable} ((1+\eps)-speed O(1ϵ2)O(\frac{1}{\epsilon^2})-competitive for any constant \eps > 0) for the total weighted flow-time objective. No non-trivial results were known for this setting, except for the most basic case of identical machines. Our result resolves a major open problem in online scheduling theory. Moreover, we also show that no job needs more than a logarithmic number of migrations. We further extend our result and give a scalable algorithm for the objective of minimizing total weighted flow-time plus energy cost for the case of unrelated machines and obtain a scalable algorithm. The key algorithmic idea is to let jobs migrate selfishly until they converge to an equilibrium. Towards this end, we define a game where each job's utility which is closely tied to the instantaneous increase in the objective the job is responsible for, and each machine declares a policy that assigns priorities to jobs based on when they migrate to it, and the execution speeds. This has a spirit similar to coordination mechanisms that attempt to achieve near optimum welfare in the presence of selfish agents (jobs). To the best our knowledge, this is the first work that demonstrates the usefulness of ideas from coordination mechanisms and Nash equilibria for designing and analyzing online algorithms

    Robust Online Speed Scaling With Deadline Uncertainty

    Get PDF
    A speed scaling problem is considered, where time is divided into slots, and jobs with payoff v arrive at the beginning of the slot with associated deadlines d. Each job takes one slot to be processed, and multiple jobs can be processed by the server in each slot with energy cost g(k) for processing k jobs in one slot. The payoff is accrued by the algorithm only if the job is processed by its deadline. We consider a robust version of this speed scaling problem, where a job on its arrival reveals its payoff v, however, the deadline is hidden to the online algorithm, which could potentially be chosen adversarially and known to the optimal offline algorithm. The objective is to derive a robust (to deadlines) and optimal online algorithm that achieves the best competitive ratio. We propose an algorithm (called min-LCR) and show that it is an optimal online algorithm for any convex energy cost function g(.). We do so without actually evaluating the optimal competitive ratio, and give a general proof that works for any convex g, which is rather novel. For the popular choice of energy cost function g(k) = k^alpha, alpha >= 2, we give concrete bounds on the competitive ratio of the algorithm, which ranges between 2.618 and 3 depending on the value of alpha. The best known online algorithm for the same problem, but where deadlines are revealed to the online algorithm has competitive ratio of 2 and a lower bound of sqrt{2}. Thus, importantly, lack of deadline knowledge does not make the problem degenerate, and the effect of deadline information on the optimal competitive ratio is limited

    Provably Efficient Adaptive Scheduling for Parallel Jobs

    Get PDF
    Scheduling competing jobs on multiprocessors has always been an important issue for parallel and distributed systems. The challenge is to ensure global, system-wide efficiency while offering a level of fairness to user jobs. Various degrees of successes have been achieved over the years. However, few existing schemes address both efficiency and fairness over a wide range of work loads. Moreover, in order to obtain analytical results, most of them require prior information about jobs, which may be difficult to obtain in real applications. This paper presents two novel adaptive scheduling algorithms -- GRAD for centralized scheduling, and WRAD for distributed scheduling. Both GRAD and WRAD ensure fair allocation under all levels of workload, and they offer provable efficiency without requiring prior information of job's parallelism. Moreover, they provide effective control over the scheduling overhead and ensure efficient utilization of processors. To the best of our knowledge, they are the first non-clairvoyant scheduling algorithms that offer such guarantees. We also believe that our new approach of resource request-allotment protocol deserves further exploration. Specifically, both GRAD and WRAD are O(1)-competitive with respect to mean response time for batched jobs, and O(1)-competitive with respect to makespan for non-batched jobs with arbitrary release times. The simulation results show that, for non-batched jobs, the makespan produced by GRAD is no more than 1.39 times of the optimal on average and it never exceeds 4.5 times. For batched jobs, the mean response time produced by GRAD is no more than 2.37 times of the optimal on average, and it never exceeds 5.5 times.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA

    Trade-offs between speed and processor in hard-deadline scheduling

    Get PDF
    This paper revisits the problem of on-line scheduling of sequential jobs with hard deadlines in a preemptive, multiprocessor setting. An on-line scheduling algorithm is said to be optimal if it can schedule any set of jobs to meet their deadlines whenever it is feasible in the off-line sense. It is known that the earliest-deadline-first strategy (EDF) is optimal in a one-processor setting, and there is no optimal on-line algorithm in an m-processor setting where m≥2. Recent work however reveals that if the on-line algorithm is given faster processors, EDF is actually optimal for all m (e.g., when m = 2, it suffices to use processors 1.5 times as fast). This paper initiates the study of the trade-off between increasing the speed and using more processors in deriving optimal on-line scheduling algorithms. Several upper bound and lower bound results are presented. For example, the speed requirement of EDF can be reduced to 2-1+p/m+p when it is given p≥0 extra processors. The main result is a new on-line algorithm which demands less speedy processors so as to attain optimality (e.g., when m = 2, the speed requirement is 1 1/3) and admits a better speed-processor trade-off than EDF (e.g., when m = 2 and p = 1, the speed requirement is 1.2). In general, no optimal algorithm exists when the speed factor is less than 1/(2√2+p/m-2).published_or_final_versio

    Achievable performance of blind policies in heavy traffic

    Get PDF
    For a GI/GI/1 queue, we show that the average sojourn time under the (blind) Randomized Multilevel Feedback algorithm is no worse than that under the Shortest Remaining Processing Time algorithm times a logarithmic function of the system load. Moreover, it is verified that this bound is tight in heavy traffic, up to a constant multiplicative factor. We obtain this result by combining techniques from two disparate areas: competitive analysis and applied probability

    Scalably Scheduling Processes with Arbitrary Speedup Curves

    Full text link

    Achievable performance of blind policies in heavy traffic

    Get PDF
    For a GI/GI/1 queue, we show that the average sojourn time under the (blind) Randomized Multilevel Feedback algorithm is no worse than that under the Shortest Remaining Processing Time algorithm times a logarithmic function of the system load. Moreover, it is verified that this bound is tight in heavy traffic, up to a constant multiplicative factor. We obtain this result by combining techniques from two disparate areas: competitive analysis and applied probability
    corecore