Abstract:
If the number of users within a workflow management system (WFMS)
increases, a central workflow server (WF-server) and a single
local area network (LAN) may become overloaded. The approach
presented in this paper describes an execution
environment which
is able to manage a growing number of users by adding new servers
and subnets. The basic idea is to decompose processes into parts
which are controlled by different
WF-servers.
That is, during the
execution of a
workflow instance its execution (step) control may
migrate from one WF-server to another. By selecting the appropriate
physical servers (for hosting the WF-servers) in the appropriate
LANs,
communication
costs and individual WF-server
workload can be
reduced significantly.
Contact: bauer@informatik.uni-ulm.de