A macroeconomic model for resource allocation in large-scale distributed systems

• Published in: Journal of parallel and distributed computing Vol. 68; no. 2; pp. 182 - 199
• Main Authors: Bai, Xin, Marinescu, Dan C., Bölöni, Ladislau, Jay Siegel, Howard, Daley, Rose A., Wang, I-Jeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego, CA Elsevier Inc 01.02.2008; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Computer science; control theory; systems; Computer systems and distributed systems. User interface; Consumer satisfaction; Consumer utility; Exact sciences and technology; Large-scale distributed system; Macroeconomic model; Price; Resource allocation; Software; Utility; Consumer satisfaction; Large-scale distributed system; Utility; Price; Consumer utility; Resource allocation; Macroeconomic model; High performance; Income; Markets; Resource sharing; Distributed system; Modeling; Optimization; Optimum; Economic model; Consumer; Pricing; Tariffication
• ISSN: 0743-7315; 1096-0848
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpdc.2007.07.001

In this paper we discuss an economic model for resource sharing in large-scale distributed systems. The model captures traditional concepts such as consumer satisfaction and provider revenues and enables us to analyze the effect of different pricing strategies upon measures of performance important for the consumers and the providers. We show that given a particular set of model parameters the satisfaction reaches an optimum; this value represents the perfect balance between the utility and the price paid for resources. Our results confirm that brokers play a very important role and can influence positively the market. We also show that consumer satisfaction does not track the consumer utility; these two important performance measures for consumers behave differently under different pricing strategies. Pricing strategies also affect the revenues obtained by providers, as well as, the ability to satisfy a larger population of users.