Energy-cost-aware scheduling of HPC workloads

Job submission in high performance computing workloads exhibits a diurnal pattern similar to electrical prices. While high-priority jobs may need immediate access to resources, by altering the cluster scheduler to delay the execution of lower-priority jobs when power prices are high, significant cost savings can be achieved. Reduction of power demands by consumers such as data centres when energy availability is low, as signaled by high prices, can also help to simplify challenges faced in reducing the carbon footprint of the electrical grid. In this paper we discuss patterns in electrical pricing and also look at some challenges in integrating more volatile, but environmentally friendly renewable energy sources into the electrical grid. Simulation results are also presented showing that high-priority jobs can still receive rapid service while achieving 25-50% electricity cost savings for lower priority jobs.