Load Distribution Performance of the Reliable Server Pooling Framework

The Reliable Server Pooling (RSerPool) protocol suite currently under standardization by the IETF is designed to build systems providing highly available services by providing mechanisms and protocols for establishing, configuring, accessing and monitoring pools of server resources. While availability is one main aspect of RSerPool, load distribution is another. Since most of the time a server pool system runs without component failures, optimal performance is an extremely important issue for the productivity and cost-efficiency of the system. In this paper, we therefore focus especially on the load distribution performance of RSerPool in scenarios without failures, presenting a quantitative performance comparison of the different load distribution strategies (called pool policies) defined in the RSerPool specifications. Based on the results, we propose some new pool policies providing significant performance enhancements compared to those currently defined in the standards documents.