Job Scheduling

Last Updated: March 14, 2017

Definition - What does Job Scheduling mean?

Job scheduling is the process of allocating system resources to many different tasks by an operating system (OS). The system handles prioritized job queues that are awaiting CPU time and it should determine which job to be taken from which queue and the amount of time to be allocated for the job. This type of scheduling makes sure that all jobs are carried out fairly and on time.

Most OSs like Unix, Windows, etc., include standard job-scheduling abilities. A number of programs including database management systems (DBMS), backup, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and business process management (BPM) feature specific job-scheduling capabilities as well.

Techopedia explains Job Scheduling

Job scheduling is performed using job schedulers. Job schedulers are programs that enable scheduling and, at times, track computer "batch" jobs, or units of work like the operation of a payroll program. Job schedulers have the ability to start and control jobs automatically by running prepared job-control-language statements or by means of similar communication with a human operator. Generally, the present-day job schedulers include a graphical user interface (GUI) along with a single point of control.

Organizations wishing to automate unrelated IT workload could also use more sophisticated attributes from a job scheduler, for example:

Real-time scheduling in accordance with external, unforeseen events
Automated restart and recovery in case of failures
Notifying the operations personnel
Generating reports of incidents
Audit trails meant for regulation compliance purposes

In-house developers can write these advanced capabilities; however, these are usually offered by providers who are experts in systems-management software.

In scheduling, many different schemes are used to determine which specific job to run. Some parameters that may be considered are as follows: