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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Jennie Palmer, Emeritus Professor Isi Mitrani
We examine the optimization of a system where the servers in a cluster may be switched dynamically and preemptively from one kind of work to another. The demand consists of two job types joining separate queues, with different arrival and service characteristics, and also different relative importance represented by appropriate holding costs. The switching of a server from queue 1 to queue 2, or vice versa, incurs a cost which may be monetary or may involve a period of unavailability. The optimal switching policy in the case of bounded queues is obtained numerically by solving a dynamic programming equation. Two simple heuristic policies -- one static and one dynamic -- are evaluated by simulation and are compared to the optimal policy. The dynamic heuristic is shown to perform well over a range of parameters, including changes in demand.
Author(s): Palmer J, Mitrani I
Publication type: Report
Publication status: Published
Series Title: School of Computing Science Technical Report Series
Year: 2003
Pages: 10
Print publication date: 01/01/2003
Source Publication Date: 2003
Report Number: 799
Institution: School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Place Published: Newcastle upon Tyne
URL: http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/publications/trs/papers/799.pdf
