Adaptive load-balancing algorithms using symmetric broadcast networks: performance study on an IBM SP2

Abstract

In a distributed-computing environment, it is important to ensure that the processor work loads are adequately balanced. Among numerous load-balancing algorithms, a unique approach due to Das and Prasad defines a symmetric broadcast network (SBN) that provides a robust communication pattern among the processors in a topology-independent manner. In this paper, we propose and analyze three SBN-based load-balancing algorithms, and implement them on an SP2. A thorough experimental study with Poisson-distributed synthetic loads demonstrates that these algorithms are very effective in balancing system load while minimizing processor idle time. They also compare favorably with several existing techniques.