Deployment and Performance Evaluation of a SNAP-based Resource Broker on the White Rose Grid

Resource brokering is an essential component in building effective Grid systems. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the performance of a SNAP (Service Negotiation and Acquisition Protocol) based resource broker on a large distributed Grid infrastructure, the White Rose Grid. The broker uses a three-phase commit protocol to reserve resources on demand, as the traditional advance reservation facilities cannot cater for such needs due to the prior time that it requires to schedule reservations. Experiments are designed and carried out on the White Rose Grid. The experimental results show that the inclusion of the three-phase commit protocol provides a performance enhancement on a large distributed Grid Infrastructure, in terms of the time taken from submission of user requirements until a job begins execution. The results support those previously obtained through the use of mathematical modelling and simulation. The broker is a viable contender for use in future Grid resource brokering implementations.