Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for assigning tasks in a distributed server system

US6223205A · kind A · utility

191Cited by
5References
39Claims
0Family size

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 13, 1998
Grant dateApr 24, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 13, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F2209/5013
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A distributed server system is disclosed which includes a load balancer and a plurality of host processors. The load balancer receives requests for service and distributes task assignments among the plurality of processors based upon the amount of work associated with the respective requests for service. More specifically, each host processor services requests for service within a predefined task size interval and the load balancer assigns to each host processor only those requests for service which involve task sizes within the particular task size interval associated with the respective processor. In the foregoing manner, the variability of the task sizes assigned to any given host processor is minimized and performance of the distributed server system is improved. In one embodiment of the invention, the thresholds defining the task size intervals served by respective host processors are selected using the task size distribution so as to attempt to allocate substantially the same amount of work to each of the host processors. In another embodiment of the invention, the thresholds defining the task size intervals served by the respective host processors are selected so as to inten…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.