Portable Batch System
Encyclopedia
Portable Batch System is the name of computer software that performs job scheduling
. Its primary task is to allocate computational tasks, i.e., batch jobs, among the available computing resources. It is often used in conjunction with UNIX
cluster environments.
PBS is supported as a job scheduler mechanism by several meta schedulers
including Moab
by Cluster Resources (which became Adaptive Computing Enterprises Inc.) and GRAM (Grid Resource Allocation Manager
), a component of the Globus Toolkit
.
under a contract project that began on June 17, 1991. The main contractor who developed the original code was MRJ Technology Solutions. MRJ was acquired by Veridian
in the late 1990s. Altair Engineering
acquired the rights to all the PBS technology and intellectual property from Veridian in 2003. Altair Engineering
currently owns and maintains the intellectual property associated with PBS, and also employs the original development team from NASA.
The following versions of PBS are currently available:
Until December 31, 2001, PBS and derivative programs (OpenPBS) did not meet the Open Source Initiative's
definition of Open Source. Namely, the license prohibition of commercial redistribution of the software. Up to that date, use of these programs also required registration at the OpenPBS website.
As of December 31, 2001, the registration and no commercial use clauses expired.
Job scheduler
A job scheduler is a software application that is in charge of unattended background executions, commonly known for historical reasons as batch processing....
. Its primary task is to allocate computational tasks, i.e., batch jobs, among the available computing resources. It is often used in conjunction with UNIX
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
cluster environments.
PBS is supported as a job scheduler mechanism by several meta schedulers
Meta-scheduling
Meta-scheduling or Super scheduling is a computer software technique of optimizing computational workloads by combining an organization's multiple Distributed Resource Managers into a single aggregated view, allowing batch jobs to be directed to the best location for execution.- Implementations...
including Moab
Moab Cluster Suite
The Moab Cluster Suite is a cluster workload management package, available from Adaptive Computing, Inc., that integrates the scheduling, managing, monitoring and reporting of cluster workloads. Moab Cluster Suite simplifies and unifies management across one or multiple hardware, operating system,...
by Cluster Resources (which became Adaptive Computing Enterprises Inc.) and GRAM (Grid Resource Allocation Manager
Grid Resource Allocation Manager
Globus Resource Allocation Manager is a software component of the Globus Toolkit that can locate, submit, monitor, and cancel jobs on Grid computing resources...
), a component of the Globus Toolkit
Globus Toolkit
The Globus Toolkit, currently at version 5, is an open source toolkit for building computing grids developed and provided by the Globus Alliance.-Standards implementation:The Globus Toolkit is an implementation of the following standards:...
.
History and versions
PBS was originally developed for NASANASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
under a contract project that began on June 17, 1991. The main contractor who developed the original code was MRJ Technology Solutions. MRJ was acquired by Veridian
Veridian
Veridian may refer to:* Veridian Credit Union, a credit union in Iowa* Veridian Dynamics, a fictional company in the U.S. television series Better Off Ted...
in the late 1990s. Altair Engineering
Altair Engineering
Altair Engineering is a product design and development, engineering software and cloud computing software company. Altair was founded by Jim Scapa, George Christ, and Mark Kistner in 1985. Over its history, it has had various locations near Detroit, Michigan, USA...
acquired the rights to all the PBS technology and intellectual property from Veridian in 2003. Altair Engineering
Altair Engineering
Altair Engineering is a product design and development, engineering software and cloud computing software company. Altair was founded by Jim Scapa, George Christ, and Mark Kistner in 1985. Over its history, it has had various locations near Detroit, Michigan, USA...
currently owns and maintains the intellectual property associated with PBS, and also employs the original development team from NASA.
The following versions of PBS are currently available:
- OpenPBS — original Open SourceOpen sourceThe term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
version released by MRJ in 1999 (not actively developed) - TORQUETORQUE Resource Manager-External links:* *...
— a fork of OpenPBS that is maintained by Cluster Resources Inc - PBS Professional (PBS Pro) — the commercial version of PBS offered by Altair EngineeringAltair EngineeringAltair Engineering is a product design and development, engineering software and cloud computing software company. Altair was founded by Jim Scapa, George Christ, and Mark Kistner in 1985. Over its history, it has had various locations near Detroit, Michigan, USA...
License
The license for PBS derived programs can be found hereUntil December 31, 2001, PBS and derivative programs (OpenPBS) did not meet the Open Source Initiative's
Open Source Initiative
The Open Source Initiative is an organization dedicated to promoting open source software.The organization was founded in February 1998, by Bruce Perens and Eric S. Raymond, prompted by Netscape Communications Corporation publishing the source code for its flagship Netscape Communicator product...
definition of Open Source. Namely, the license prohibition of commercial redistribution of the software. Up to that date, use of these programs also required registration at the OpenPBS website.
As of December 31, 2001, the registration and no commercial use clauses expired.