Cost minimization in utility computing systems
Satish Penmatsa, Anthony Theodore Chronopoulos · Concurrency and Computation Practice and Experience · 2012
SUMMARY Utility computing is a form of computer service whereby the company providing the service charges the users for using the system resources. In this paper, we present system‐optimal and user‐optimal price‐based job allocation schemes for utility computing systems whose objective is to minimize the cost for the users. The system‐optimal scheme provides an allocation of jobs to the computing resources that minimizes the overall cost for executing all the jobs in the system. The user‐optimal scheme provides an allocation that minimizes the cost for individual users in the system for providing fairness. The system‐optimal scheme is formulated as a constraint minimization problem, and the user‐optimal scheme is formulated as a non‐cooperative game. The prices charged by the computing resource owners for executing the users jobs are obtained using a pricing model based on a non‐cooperative bargaining game theory framework. The performance of the studied job allocation schemes is evaluated using simulations with various system loads and configurations. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.