Dealing with Heterogeneity in Load Balancing Algorithms

Cluster heterogeneity increases the difficulty of balancing the load across the system nodes. Although the relationship between heterogeneity and load balancing is difficult to describe analytically, in this paper an exhaustive analysis of the effects of this system feature on load balancing algorithms performance is presented. Considering the performed analysis, there are two main challenges that need to be faced when dealing with cluster heterogeneity in load balancing algorithms: one related to the state measurement stage and another to the initiation rule. In this paper techniques to deal with heterogeneity in these two algorithm stages are proposed. Furthermore, suggestions to improve the performance of the rest of algorithm stages in heterogeneous environments are made too