Transparent resource allocation to exploit idle cluster nodes in computational grids

Clusters of workstations are one of the most suitable resources to assist e-scientists in the execution of large-scale experiments that demand processing power. The utilization rate of these machines is usually far from 100%, and hence this should motivate administrators to share their clusters to grid communities. However, exploiting these resources in computational grids is challenging and brings several problems. This paper presents a transparent resource allocation strategy to harness idle cluster resources aimed at executing grid applications. This novel approach does not make use of a formal allocation request to cluster resource managers. Moreover, it does not interfere with local cluster users, being non-intrusive, and hence motivating cluster administrators to publish their resources to grid communities. We present experimental results regarding the effects of the proposed strategy on the attendance time of both cluster and grid requests and we also analyze its effectiveness in clusters with different utilization rates