A Simple Approach to Distributed Pools

This paper presents a simple solution to the distributed producer/consumer problem. This solution, which is based upon the notion of a distributed pool, is described in detail and its performance analyzed. As the analysis shows, the distributed pools algorithm presented herein is a simple, efficient solution to the distributed producer/consumer problem, and is capable of better than 90% efficiency under common conditions. Its major failing is that it needs the production rates of the producers to be reasonably similar. Key words: distributed computing, distributed queue, performance modeling, producer/consumer, simulation. INTRODUCTION The distributed producer/consumer problem consists of a set of producer processes that supply items to a set of consumer processes. Each of the processes involved resides on a different machine, with the machines being connected by a network. Communication between the producers and consumers is accomplished via message passing. One example of a distributed producer/consumer problem comes from the High Energy Physics community. High Energy Physics research typically involves particle collision experiments. These experiments generate huge volumes of data which are stored on a series of tape