Problem Statement

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Resource Allocation Service - Problem Statement

Overview

Design a system that allocates and manages shared resources (compute, memory, storage, licenses) across multiple applications with fairness, efficiency, and priority-based scheduling. The system must prevent resource starvation, handle dynamic demand, and optimize utilization.

Functional Requirements

Core Allocation Features

  • Resource Reservation: Reserve resources before use
  • Dynamic Allocation: Allocate resources on-demand
  • Resource Release: Return unused resources to pool
  • Quota Management: Per-tenant resource limits
  • Priority Scheduling: Priority-based allocation
  • Fair Sharing: Equitable resource distribution

Resource Types

  • Compute Resources: CPU cores, GPU units
  • Memory Resources: RAM allocation
  • Storage Resources: Disk space, IOPS
  • Network Resources: Bandwidth allocation
  • License Resources: Software licenses
  • Custom Resources: Application-specific resources

Scheduling Policies

  • FIFO: First-in-first-out scheduling
  • Fair Share: Proportional resource sharing
  • Priority-Based: High-priority first
  • Preemption: Reclaim from low-priority tasks
  • Gang Scheduling: All-or-nothing allocation
  • Backfilling: Fill gaps with smaller jobs

Multi-Tenancy

  • Tenant Isolation: Separate resource pools
  • Quota Enforcement: Hard and soft limits
  • Resource Guarantees: Minimum allocations
  • Burst Capacity: Temporary over-allocation
  • Cost Tracking: Per-tenant usage metrics
  • Chargeback: Usage-based billing

Non-Functional Requirements

Performance Requirements

  • Allocation Latency: <100ms for allocation decisions
  • Throughput: 1,000+ allocations per second
  • Query Performance: <10ms for resource availability
  • Update Latency: <50ms for resource updates
  • Scheduling Overhead: <5% of total resources

Scalability Requirements

  • Resource Pool Size: 100,000+ allocatable units
  • Concurrent Requests: 10,000+ simultaneous requests
  • Tenants: 1,000+ active tenants
  • Applications: 10,000+ registered applications
  • Geographic Distribution: Multi-region support

Reliability Requirements

  • Availability: 99.95% uptime
  • Consistency: Strong consistency for allocations
  • Fault Tolerance: Survive node failures
  • Data Durability: No allocation loss
  • Recovery Time: <5 minutes after failure

Success Metrics

  • Utilization Rate: >80% resource utilization
  • Allocation Success: >99% successful allocations
  • Fairness Index: Jain's fairness >0.95
  • Starvation Rate: <0.1% requests starved
  • Response Time: P99 <200ms

This problem statement provides the foundation for designing a robust resource allocation system.