Batch Resizing Policies and Techniques for Fine- Grain Grid Tasks: The Nuts and Bolts

The overhead of processing fine-grain tasks on a grid induces the need for batch processing or task group deployment in order to minimise overall application turnaround time. When deciding the granularity of a batch, the processing requirements of each task should be considered as well as the utilisation constraints of the interconnecting network and the designated resources. However, the dynamic nature of a grid requires the batch size to be adaptable to the latest grid status. In this paper, we describe the policies and the specific techniques involved in the batch resizing process. We explain the nuts and bolts of these techniques in order to maximise the resulting benefits of batch processing. We conduct experiments to determine the nature of the policies and techniques in response to a real grid environment. The techniques are further investigated to highlight the important parameters for obtaining the appropriate task granularity for a grid resource. Keywords— Batch Resizing, Task Granularity, Global Grid, Application Turnaround Time