SchedMatch

Scheduler job matchmaking

Currently the scheduler's work-sending algorithm is:

• if host is reliable, scan entire job array, looking for retries
• if using HR, scan entire job array, looking for jobs committed to this HR class
• if still need work, scan entire job array with no restrictions

This is bad for several reasons:

• inefficient: repeated array scans
• inflexible policy: why should reliable be more important than HR?
• hard to add new policies, like sending "hard" jobs to fasts hosts

To solve these problems we're going to change this part of the scheduler. Basic idea: given a job J and a host H, there is a function V(J, H) that represents the value of sending J to H. V(J, H) might reflect various factors:

• the computational "hardness" of J
  • CPU/deadline ratio
  • RAM or disk requirements
• H already has files required by J(or jobs already planned for sending have such files)
• J is a retry and H is a fast/reliable host
• J has already been committed to H's HR class

BOINC includes a default value function. Projects can tweak its weights, or define their own value function.

Details

functions:

job_set_feasible(set)

checks if a set of jobs is feasible (no DB access)

• disk usage
• deadline check (EDF sim or crude)
• one result per user/host (no DB)

job_feasible_fast(j)

feasibility checks that can be done with no DB access

• WU committed to different platform (no DB check)
• app filtering
• memory usage

job_feasible_slow(j)

feasibility checks that need DB access

• one result per user or host per WU (look in DB)
• WU committed to different platform (look in DB)

Parameters:

N

scan at least this many slots (if scan N slots and have enough jobs to send, stop)

M

scan at most this many slots (even if don't have enough jobs to send yet)

L

if scan this many locked slots, print warning msg (should increase shmem size)

logic:

acquire semaphore
i = random index in shmem
x = ordered list of jobs to send (empty)
slots_scanned = 0
slots_locked = 0
loop
    i = i+1 % array_size
    slots_scanned++
    if slots_scanned > M
        break
    if shmem[i] is empty
        continue
    if shmem[i] is locked
        slots_locked++
        continue
    j = shmem[i]
    if !job_feasible_fast(j) continue;
    v = v(h, j)
    if v <= lowest score in x
        continue
    S = jobs in x with value >= v
    if !job_set_feasible(S+j)
        continue
    lock j
    release semaphore
    if !job_feasible_slow(j)
        acquire semaphore
        unlock j
        continue
    acquire semaphore
    add j to x
    while (x minus lowest-val element) satisfies work request
        remove lowest-val element of x
    while !job_set_feasible(x)
        remove lowest-value element of x
    if x satisfies work request and slots_scanned >= N
        break;
for each job j in x
    mark slot j as empty
release semaphore
if slots_locked > L
    print "need bigger array" message