The programs being executed send messages to a higher level entity called steward which interprets these requests in terms of executable objects and posts them on a job board along with salient information about data location, resource requirements, job priority, and so forth. When a job is posted, all processors bid on that job. Processors bid on jobs in order to maximize their profit in terms of cycles of work and overhead.
Processors have no knowledge of other bids and operate autonomously.
The dispatcher awards tasks to the processor with the best bid. A user node issues jobs. A steward node manages jobs authorized by other users or assigned by stewards. A participant node bids jobs and execute the assigned job from the steward. Role assignments of nodes are based on every individual job.