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Optimal multiprogramming

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Summary

Three heuristics for controlling the multiprogramming load to maximize system work capacity are studied. Each allows the highest load possible subject to a given constraint. The knee criterion constrains the memory policy so that program resident sets average near the knees of their inter page fault lifetime curves. The L=S criterion constrains the memory policy or load so that the system inter page fault lifetime L is at least as large as page swap time S. The 50 % criterion constrains the load so that the paging device is busy approximately half the time. Numerical evaluations of queueing networks show that the knee criterion, which is the most difficult to implement, is the most robust, while the easily implemented 50 % criterion is the least robust. These evaluations also circumscribe the conditions under which the criteria are expected to work reliably. Examples from practical systems further validate the criteria. Stability problems are examined.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science Department, Purdue University, 47907, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

    Peter J. Denning & Kevin C. Kahn

  2. IRIA-Laboria Domaine de Voluceau, Rocquencourt, 78150, Le Chesnay, France

    Jacques Leroudier & Dominique Potier

  3. Division of Engineering, Harvard University, 02138, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Rajan Suri

Authors
  1. Peter J. Denning
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  2. Kevin C. Kahn
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  3. Jacques Leroudier
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  4. Dominique Potier
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  5. Rajan Suri
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Additional information

This paper is a compendium of two papers and the ensuing discussion at the ACM-SIGMETRICS/IFIP WG7.3 International Symposium on Computer Performance Modeling, Measurement, and Evaluation, at Harvard University, on 29–31 March 1976. The two papers were presented, respectively, by the first two pairs of authors [25, 27], and the discussion by the last author. The work of the first two authors was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant GJ-41289 at Purdue University.

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Denning, P.J., Kahn, K.C., Leroudier, J. et al. Optimal multiprogramming. Acta Informatica 7, 197–216 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00265771

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00265771

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