Prof. Dr. Theo Ungerer
Institute of Computer Science
University of Augsburg
86135 Augsburg, Germany
ungerer@informatik.uni-augsburg.de
http://www.informatik.uni-augsburg.de/en/chairs/sik/staff/ungerer/

ReGTime - Rent Gigaflops Sometimes

Annja Zahn*) and Theo Ungerer

*) Computing Center, University of Augsburg, Universitätsstraße 8
D-86159 Augsburg, Germany

ReGTime (RentGigaflops someTimes) is a software package that helps to rent unused computing power. Sites offer unused resources on a ``computing power market''.
Customers specify their requirements using World Wide Web. ReGTime creates an offer based on available capacities. If the offer is accepted, ReGTime helps to establish a contract, organizes the access, observes the compliance with the contract, and collects data for invoicing. This way e.g.
smaller companies may purchase additional computing power without investing in hardware.

The experiences with ReGTime in reality showed problems stated as the lack of parallel applications on customers' side, the emotional receding on providers' side, the security, usability and insufficient information problems. So a redesign of ReGTime is deemed necessary.

The extended system ReGTime-2 couples ReGTime to the load-sharing system DQS, improves the information phase, and provides a WWW-based user guidance that eases both the usability and the security problem.

The ReGTime project ended wiht the doctoral thesis of Annja Zahn at the University of Augsburg.. The Regtime-2 software is available from Annja Zahn of the University of Augsburg.

References:

A. Zahn, T. Ungerer: Experiences and Enhancements of ReGTime: A System for Trading Computing Power. Workshop on Distributed Computing on the WEB, Rostock, June 22-23, 1998 (in postscript, in pdf).

B. Dreier, A. Huber, T. Ungerer, M. Zahn: Trading Computing Power with ReGTime. Journal of Systems Architecture, Vol. 44, No. 3-4, December 1997, 293-306. (in postscript, in pdf).

(in German) B. Dreier, A. Huber, T. Ungerer, M. Zahn: Benutzerverwaltung und Leistungsabrechnung auf Hypercomputern mit ReGTime. Workshop Hypercomputing der Tagung Architektur von Rechensystemen 1997, ARCS 97, Rostock, 8.-11. September 1997. (in postscript, in pdf)

B. Dreier, A. Huber, H. Karl, T. Ungerer, M. Zahn: ReGTime - Rent Gigaflops Sometimes.
Workshop "Trends in Distributed Systems", October 1-2, 1996, Springer-Verlag, Lecture Notes in Computer Science Vol. 1161, 84 - 93. (in postscript, in pdf)

See also the Rthreads project.

To Ungerer's homepage.
Theo Ungerer, April 2006