A dynamic load balancing architecture for PDES using PVM on clusters

Abstract

Scalable simulation in a cluster computing environment depends on effective mechanisms for load balancing. This paper presents an object-oriented software architecture and specifies communication protocols which support efficient load balancing via object migration in cluster based PDES. A general decomposition of functionality is given in the context of a flexible adaptable architecture for migration and load adjustment. The key contributions are the development of a general architecture into which specific migration policies and load balancing heuristics can be easily integrated and a specification of the communication protocols required. An implementation of the proposed architecture using PVM for communication indicates the approachis bothflexible and well suited to customization. This enhances simulation scalability and usability in computing platforms including bothtraditional cluster computing and Web-computing.