<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Times">Is it possible to argue for simplicity in these algorithms?</font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Times"><br></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Times">E.g., if I want to submit against an allocation, I should be able to do that, and not have the algorithm second-guess me and do something different.</font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Times"><br></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Times">Having more complex things is ok, too, as long as they can easily be turned off--or (my recommendation) require that they be turned on explicitly.</font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Times"><br></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Times">Ian.</font></div><div><br></div><br><div><div>On Apr 21, 2009, at 3:02 PM, Mihael Hategan wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div>On Tue, 2009-04-21 at 14:12 -0500, Michael Wilde wrote:<br><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">Which should I rather do now, continue implementing block allocations,<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">or sort out discussions about coasters from the mailing list?<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">You should do this:<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">First send a sentence or two on how block allocations are going: whats <br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">involved, and how long you think they will take till checked in. What <br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">kind of testing will be required to ensure functional and stable.<br></blockquote><br>I haven't explicitly done so because I thought I mentioned this before.<br><br>I have an algorithm that I tested with various loads and configurations.<br>It can work with limited numbers of jobs, and pre-set allocations<br>(though there are some tweaks there that are still needed - a major one<br>being when to choose pre-existing allocations instead of automated<br>allocations; for example, if the pre-existing allocation is tomorrow,<br>and I submit now, I'd presumably want some jobs to be started before<br>tomorrow).<br><br>I need to now plug that into the rest of the coaster code (this is the<br>part I'm doing right now), find ways to specify parameters in the sites<br>file, efficiently ship those parameters remotely, and do some basic<br>testing. I estimate that to take somewhere in the range of one to two<br>weeks of development time, but that's not with very high confidence.<br><br>The kind of testing needed to ensure stability is not different from<br>what we've discussed and what we already know: we'll need to run<br>synthetic tests on various sites, and we'll need to run existing<br>applications on various sites. This is not new.<br><br><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Then continue developing them.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Between now and Friday, do the list I asked for.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">(i.e. would you please let me do my job?)<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Yes.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">I know development takes concentration. To achieve that, you manage your <br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">time, and the rate at which you read and answer email or take any other <br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">interrupts.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">If something needs immediate attention, I or others say so, or your best <br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">judgment does. If not, it doesn't, but needs eventual attention.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">A list of coaster issues was started on swift-devel Feb 13:<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><a href="http://mail.ci.uchicago.edu/pipermail/swift-devel/2009-February/004511.html">http://mail.ci.uchicago.edu/pipermail/swift-devel/2009-February/004511.html</a><br></blockquote><br>There are 4 issues there:<br>- bootstrap issues (these are solved - this was discussed on the mailing<br>list)<br>- sites.xml attribute for java - the priority of this has become lower<br>because the detection is done better now, but it should probably still<br>be implemented (this was also on the mailing list as far as I can<br>remember; also, I think one can specify JAVA_HOME or make sure java is<br>in the path using the environment or otherwise)<br>- service on the worker node - after block allocations, unless Ben does<br>otherwise<br>- the scalability problem - we're doing block allocations mainly to<br>address this<br><br><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">A report on progress and summary of open design issues and work <br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">remaining would benefit everyone.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Find a good stopping point in the next few days, then make list of work <br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">items and design and testing issues on coasters.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Then discuss and get feedback. Then develop what you listed. Then <br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">repeat. That *is* your job.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><br>I wish :)<br><br>Yep. We discussed, got feedback, and I was now developing. Discussing<br>the same issues again was interfering with my developing. So let me<br>re-state this: "I am now developing coaster block allocations. I will<br>send feedback from time to time, when I have interesting things to send<br>feedback about. I will probably have testable code in 1 to 2 weeks."<br><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>Swift-devel mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Swift-devel@ci.uchicago.edu">Swift-devel@ci.uchicago.edu</a><br>http://mail.ci.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/swift-devel<br></div></blockquote></div><br></body></html>