Impact of Malfunction on the Energy Efficiency of Batch Processing Systems

Energy efficiency of large processing systems is usually assessed as the relation between a performance and a power consumption metric, neglecting malfunction. Execution failures have a tangible cost in terms of wasted energy, however. They are often managed through fault tolerance mechanisms, which in turn consume electricity. We introduce the consumability attribute for batch processing systems, encompassing performance, consumption, and dependability aspects altogether. We propose a metric for its quantification and a methodology for its analysis. Using a real 500-node batch system as a case study, we show that consumability is representative of both efficiency and effectiveness, and we show the usefulness of the proposed metric and the suitability of the proposed methodology.