Bundling and sending work units to a server based on a weighted cost

• US 20070118652A1
• Filed: 10/28/2005
• Published: 05/24/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Wang, Hao, Shen, Jinmei, Diedrich, Richard
• Granted Patent: US 7,606,906 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5027 the resource being a machine, e.g. CPUs, Servers, Terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1012 based on compliance of requirements or conditions with available server resources

Abstract

A method, apparatus, system, and signal-bearing medium that, in an embodiment, accumulate multiple work units into a bundle and send the bundle to a selected active server. The active server is selected based on the relative costs for the work units and costs for servers. In an embodiment, selecting the active server includes determining relative work unit costs and relative server costs, calculating total weighted costs for the servers based on the relative work unit costs and the relative server costs, and selecting the active server that has the lowest total weighted cost. The active server may either process a work in the bundle locally or send the work unit to a passive server for processing. The active server determines whether each work unit can be executed at the active server. If the work unit can be executed on the active server, the active server executes the work unit and creates local results. If the work unit cannot be executed on the server, the active server sends the work unit to a passive server, and the passive server creates remote results. The active server receives the remote results from the passive server, combines the local results with the remote results into combined results, and sends the combined results to a client. In various embodiments, branch and dependency data are included in the bundle, which the active server uses to order and conditionally process for the work units.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

creating a bundle of a plurality of work units;

selecting an active server from among a plurality of servers, wherein the selecting further comprises determining a plurality of relative work unit costs for the plurality of work units, determining a plurality of relative server costs for the plurality of servers, calculating a plurality of total weighted costs for the plurality of servers based on the relative work unit costs and the relative server costs, and selecting the active server with a lowest of the total weighted costs; and

sending the bundle from a client to the active server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the creating the bundle of work units further comprises:

creating dependencies between the work units.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the creating the dependencies between the work units further comprises:

creating an order of execution of the work units.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the creating the bundle of work units further comprises:

creating branches between the work units.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the creating the branches between the work units further comprises:

creating a logic condition that specifies conditional execution of the work units.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein

the active server determines whether each of the work units can be executed at the active server,

if the work unit can be executed on the active server, the active server executes the work unit and creates local results, and

if the work unit cannot be executed on the server, the active server sends the work unit to a passive server, wherein the passive server creates remote results.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the active server receives the remote results from the passive server, combines the local results with the remote results into combined results, and sends the combined results to the client.

8. The method of claim 6, where the active server executes the work units and sends the work units to the passive server in the order.

9. A signal-bearing medium encoded with instructions, wherein the instructions when executed comprise:

creating a bundle of a plurality of work units;

selecting an active server from among a plurality of servers, wherein the selecting further comprises determining a plurality of relative work unit costs for the plurality of work units, determining a plurality of relative server costs for the plurality of servers, calculating a plurality of total weighted costs for the plurality of servers based on the relative work unit costs and the relative server costs, and selecting the active server with a lowest of the total weighted costs; and

sending the bundle from a client to the active server, wherein

the active server determines whether each of the work units can be executed at the active server,

if the work unit can be executed on the active server, the active server executes the work unit and creates local results, and

if the work unit cannot be executed on the server, the active server sends the work unit to a passive server, wherein the passive server creates remote results.

10. The signal-bearing medium of claim 9, wherein the creating the bundle of work units further comprises:

creating dependencies between the work units.

11. The signal-bearing medium of claim 10, wherein the creating the dependencies between the work units further comprises:

creating an order of execution of the work units.

12. The signal-bearing medium of claim 9, wherein the creating the bundle of work units further comprises:

creating branches between the work units.

13. The signal-bearing medium of claim 12, wherein the creating the branches between the work units further comprises:

creating a logic condition that specifies conditional execution of the work units.

14. The signal-bearing medium of claim 9, wherein the active server receives the remote results from the passive server, combines the local results with the remote results into combined results, and sends the combined results to the client.

15. The signal-bearing medium of claim 13, where the active server executes the work units and sends the work units to the passive server based on the logic condition.

16. A method for configuring a computer, comprising:

configuring the computer to create a bundle of a plurality of work units;

configuring the computer to select an active server from among a plurality of servers, wherein the selecting further comprises determining a plurality of relative work unit costs for the plurality of work units, determining a plurality of relative server costs for the plurality of servers, calculating a plurality of total weighted costs for the plurality of servers based on the relative work unit costs and the relative server costs, and selecting the active server with a lowest of the total weighted costs; and

configuring the computer to send the bundle from the computer to the active server, wherein

the active server determines whether each of the work units can be executed at the active server,

if the work unit can be executed on the active server, the active server executes the work unit and creates local results,

if the work unit cannot be executed on the server, the active server sends the work unit to a passive server, wherein the passive server creates remote results, and

wherein the active server receives the remote results from the passive server, combines the local results with the remote results into combined results, and sends the combined results to the computer.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the configuring the computer to create the bundle of work units further comprises:

configuring the computer to create an order of execution of the work units.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the active server executes the work units and sends the work units to the passive server in the order of the execution.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the configuring the computer to create the bundle of work units further comprises:

configuring the computer to create a logic condition that specifies conditional execution of the work units.

20. The method of claim 19, where the active server executes the work units and sends the work units to the passive server based on the logic condition.