Randomized algorithm for the k-server problem on decomposable spaces

Abstract

We study the randomized k-server problem on metric spaces consisting of widely separated subspaces. We give a method which extends existing algorithms to larger spaces with the growth rate of the competitive quotients being at most O(log k). This method yields o(k)-competitive algorithms solving the randomized k-server problem, for some special underlying metric spaces, e.g. HSTs of "small" height (but unbounded degree). HSTs are important tools for probabilistic approximation of metric spaces.