Affiliations: Computer Science and Engineering Department,
University of California, San Diego, LaJolla, CA 92093, USA. E-mail:
{casanova,graziano,berman}@cs.ucsd.edu | Computer Science Department, University of Tennessee,
Knoxville, TN 37996, USA. E-mail: rich@cs.utk.edu
Note: [] Corresponding author
Abstract: The Computational Grid is a promising platform for the efficient
execution of {\it parameter sweep applications} over large parameter spaces. To
achieve performance on the Grid, such applications must be scheduled so that
shared data files are strategically placed to maximize re-use, and so that the
application execution can adapt to the deliverable performance potential of
target heterogeneous, distributed and shared resources. Parameter sweep
applications are an important class of applications and would greatly benefit
from the development of {\it Grid middleware} that embeds a scheduler for
performance and targets Grid resources transparently. In this paper we describe a user-level Grid middleware project, the
{\em AppLeS Parameter Sweep Template (APST)}, that uses application-level
scheduling techniques [1] and various Grid technologies to allow the efficient
deployment of parameter sweep applications over the Grid. We discuss several
possible scheduling algorithms and detail our software design. We then describe
our current implementation of APST using systems like Globus [2], NetSolve [3]
and the Network Weather Service [4], and present experimental results.
