Distributed computing

Abstract

A distributed computing system manages execution of jobs and their associated tasks. Multiple scheduling strategies respect job priority preferences. A graphical user interface allows viewing of job status information and on-the-fly modification of job priorities.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 306,689 (“Adaptive Scheduling”), filed on Nov. 27, 2002 by the inventors herein.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to the field of high-performance computing (“HPC”); more specifically, to systems and techniques for distributed and / or parallel processing. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] HPC has long been a focus of both academic research and commercial development, and the field presents a bewildering array of standards, products, tools, and consortia. Any attempt at comparative analysis is complicated by the fact that many of these interrelate not as mutually exclusive alternatives, but as complementary component or overlapping standards. [0004] Probably the most familiar, and certainly the oldest, approach is based on dedicated supercomputing hardware. The earliest supercomputers included vector-based array processors, whose...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0027] The invention provides an off-the-shelf product solution to target the specific needs of commercial users with naturally parallel applications. A top-level, public API provides a simple “compute server” or “task farm” model that dramatically accelerates integration and deployment. By providing built-in, turnkey support for enterprise features like fault-tolerant scheduling, fail-over, load balancing, and remote, central administration, the invention eliminates the need for customized middleware and yields enormous, on-going savings in maintenance and administrative overhead.

[0028] Behind the public API is a layered, peer-to-peer (P2P) messaging implementation that provides tremendous flexibility to configure data transport and overcome bottlenecks, and a powerful underlying SDK based on pluggable components and equipped with a run-time XML scripting facility that provides a robust migration path for future enhancements.

[0029] Utilizing the techniques described in detail below, the invention supports effectively unlimited scaling over commoditized resource pools, so that end-users can add resources as needed, with no incremental development cost. The invention seamlessly incorporates both dedicated and intermittently idle resources on multiple platforms (Windows™, Unix, Linux, etc.). And it provides true idle detection and automatic fault-tolerant rescheduling, thereby harnessing discrete pockets of idle capacity without sacrificing guaranteed service levels. (In contrast, previous efforts to harness idle capacity have run low-priority background jobs, restricted utilization to overnight idle periods, or imposed intrusive measures, such as checkpointing.) The invention provides a system that can operate on user desktops during peak business hours without degrading performance or intruding on the user experience in any way.

Problems solved by technology

(In contrast, previous efforts to harness idle capacity have run low-priority background jobs, restricted utilization to overnight idle periods, or imposed intrusive measures, such as checkpointing.)

Images