File allocation for a parallel Webserver

This paper considers the problem of allocating files in a document tree among multiple processors in a parallel webserver. It is assumed that access patterns are characterized by branching probabilities for an access that starts at a node and progresses down the tree. A combinatorial optimization problem is formulated that includes load balancing and communication costs. The general problem is shown to be NP-complete, and a pseudo-polynomial time algorithm is outlined. In addition, two fast heuristic algorithms are presented and evaluated using simulation.