Platform LSF Administration Guide Version 6.2

Using Goal-Oriented SLA Scheduling
Administering Platform LSF
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Using Goal-Oriented SLA Scheduling
Goal-oriented scheduling policies help you configure your workload so that your jobs
are completed on time and reduce the risk of missed deadlines. They enable you to focus
on the “what and when” of your projects, not the low-level details of “how” resources
need to be allocated to satisfy various workloads.
Service-level agreements in LSF
A service-level agreement (SLA) defines how a service is delivered and the parameters
for the delivery of a service. It specifies what a service provider and a service recipient
agree to, defining the relationship between the provider and recipient with respect to a
number of issues, among them:
Services to be delivered
Performance
Tracking and reporting
Problem management
An SLA in LSF is a “just-in-time” scheduling policy that defines an agreement between
LSF administrators and LSF users. The SLA scheduling policy defines how many jobs
should be run from each SLA to meet the configured goals.
Service classes
SLA definitions consist of service-level goals that are expressed in individual service
classes. A service class is the actual configured policy that sets the service-level goals for
the LSF system. The SLA defines the workload (jobs or other services) and users that
need the work done, while the service class that addresses the SLA defines individual
goals, and a time window when the service class is active.
Service-level goals
You configure the following kinds of goals:
Deadline goals
A specified number of jobs should be completed within a specified time window. For
example, run all jobs submitted over a weekend.
Velocity goals
Expressed as concurrently running jobs. For example: maintain 10 running jobs
between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Velocity goals are well suited for short jobs (run time
less than one hour). Such jobs leave the system quickly, and configuring a velocity goal
ensures a steady flow of jobs through the system.
Throughput goals
Expressed as number of finished jobs per hour. For example: finish 15 jobs per hour
between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Throughput goals are suitable for medium
to long running jobs. These jobs stay longer in the system, so you typically want to
control their rate of completion rather than their flow.
Combining
different types of
goals
You might want to set velocity goals to maximize quick work during the day, and set
deadline and throughput goals to manage longer running work on nights and over
weekends.