Re: [Condor-users] A question about Backfill Jobs

[Ben Burnett <burnett@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>>>
I was thinking the backfill feature might be a nice way to do this. Some
things that aren't clear from the manual section: does Condor spawn one
backfill process per-slot on the machine? So as each slot in my 4-slot
system becomes free I get another backfill job running? Or is 1 backfill
job per-machine?
<<<

I can only speak from experience on a Windows machine: the Backfill job 
spawns one copy of the BOINC client, which manages all the slots (to use
Condor terminology) by itself.  So, in that respect, you will only get
one Backfill job per machine, and it's execution behavior will be 
dependent on the Backfill start and eviction expressions.

>>> 
Also, *must* I run BOINC? Is there something specific about the BOINC
client that the BOINC backfill methods require to operate properly?
Could I make my custom backfill loading job look like a BOINC client and
fake it out?
<<<

Yes, it currently must be BOINC and only BOINC, but only as far the *name* 
is concerned: There is nothing stopping a user from supplying another 
executable in its place.  This is, of course, not supported, and because 
there are fewer attributes available to Backfill jobs there may be some 
limitations on the behavior you want.

Regards,
-B