On Selecting Resources with Much Different Reliabilities in a Grid System

Grid systems consist of a large number of resources with different reliabilities. This paper addresses the problem of reducing the cost of using a grid system provided that a prescribed level of reliability is achieved. An O(n2ldrk) time algorithm is presented for choosing resources from available ones so that the above mentioned target is realized. In the algorithm, n stands for the total number of voting units, and k is proportional to the sum of the weights of all units in the system. According to the proposed scheme, the weighted voting policy is employed. Furthermore, some expensive voting units are substituted by relatively cheap ones, three for one.