On balancing workload in a highly mobile environment

Abstract

Traditionally, in a distributed database system, it has been assumed that most queries can be processed with the data that reside at the site where the query is submitted. However, this concept of localization is challenged by new technologies that facilitate mobility of users. In a highly mobile environment, queries issued by a mobile user are more likely to require remote access. As a result, existing algorithms may no longer provide the desirable performance. In this paper, we propose and study several algorithms for improving the throughput of the system in such a context. Based on a simulation study, our results show that unless the communication is low, strategies that balance the workload based on the machine load perform best.