On Fri, 19 Jan 2001, Chris Karakas wrote:
> Martin Apel wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > So? I was trying to point out that simply selecting the biggest
> > > dump may not give you the best packing. Often, the few tapes contain
> > > four or five smaller dumps and can obtain a 99.8% usage rate.
> > >
> ...
>
> > Yes, you are right. You might achieve a better packing by a more intelligent
> > algorithm.
>
> I dont know if you noticed it, but you are talking about the famous "bin
> packing problem" in combinatorics. Just search the web for "bin packing"
> and you will find quite a few algorithms and further literature on this
> vast subject (even AMANDA uses one, according to some old papers).
Yes, I knew that this is a known problem. But most of these algorithms
are designed to work with full knowledge, i.e. they assume they know
all sizes of all dumps. In Amanda's case this is not true, because
after you wrote out a first dump you can make a new decision with extended
information. After all, since I have rather good experience with my simple
approach there's not really a need for a better algorithm.
Regards,
Martin
________________________________________________________________________
Martin Apel, Dipl.-Inform. t e c m a t h A G
Group Manager Software Development Human Solutions Division
phone +49 (0)6301 606-300 Sauerwiesen 2, 67661 Kaiserslautern
fax +49 (0)6301 606-309 Germany
[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.tecmath.com
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