| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 430264 | Journal of Computer and System Sciences | 2013 | 15 Pages |
Cluster virtualization is a promising approach to construct customized execution environments for Grid users. However, Virtual-Machine Cluster (VCluster) comes with the cost of the overhead caused by virtual machines, which therefore degrades system performance. In this paper, we propose a novel hybrid cluster model, namely TopCluster. By exploiting a Hybrid Batch System (HyBS) mechanism, TopCluster can flexibly allocate both physical or virtualized resources via a unified front-end. To reduce the overhead caused by the dynamic deployment of virtual machines and applications, we also propose a value-based deployment strategy along with TopCluster. An XML-based Application Deployment Description Language (ADDL) is also newly proposed to describe properties, installation procedure, and configuration operations of applications. A prototype system has been implemented and a series of experiments was conducted to evaluate TopCluster by replaying a real world trace. Results show that TopCluster can averagely generate 24.6% and 46.8% higher system throughput, 26.3% and 110.6% higher resource utility, and 35.1% and 56.1% lower waiting time of jobs than two commonly applied cluster models in Grid: Traditional Physical Cluster (PCluster) and VCluster.
► We propose the hybrid resource management model of TopCluster. ► The physical and virtual nodes can be flexibly allocated for tasks in TopCluster. ► A value-based strategy for resource deployment in TopCluster is proposed. ► The deployment strategy reduces the overhead caused by resource virtualization. ► TopCluster can generate higher system performance than PCluster and VCluster.
