Large scale systems such as the Grid need scalable and efficient resource allocation mechanisms to fulfil the requirements of its participants and applications while the whole system is regulated to work efficiently. Economics inspired models have shown ability to handle efficiently the allocation of resources and services, scaling up well as they are decentralized. Our model considers the arbitration of decisions at the local scope and short term, the regulation of the system at global scope, and the sharing of information between global and local environments. This paper presents a scalable model and evaluates by simulation a system where global market information circulates in aggregated and scalable form, the rate of demand by participants is globally regulated by a currency mechanism, preference is regulated by a reputation mechanism, and local regulation among competing participants is resolved by auction mechanisms. The paper shows how scalable systems benefit from distributed marketplaces supporting global information flow to regulate and optimize local and global behavior.

Peer Reviewed