Load Indices - Past, Present and Future

To achieve superior performance levels when working with heterogeneous distributed platforms, process-scheduling decisions must be based essentially on the platform??s features and on the application??s demands. A primary objective of computing systems is the efficient use of available resources. The effective use of these resources in this type of system therefore requires strategies to distribute process scheduling equally among the multiple processors available. An essential element of the scheduling policy is the measurement of loads, and an accurate load index is required to manage the load distribution efficiently. Therefore, this paper sought to compile and present a survey of the load indices contained in the literature, present a new one used to obtain better performance in heterogeneous systems and propose new investigation to the future of load indices and load metrics.