Critical path
The chain of dependent batch jobs that decides when the whole batch run finishes; any delay on it delays the finish.
Also written batch critical path, critical job, batch deadline
In a large batch run, many jobs can run at the same time, but some chains of jobs must run one after another. The longest of these chains is the critical path. It decides the earliest time the whole run can finish.
A delay to a job on the critical path delays the end of the batch by the same amount. A delay to a job off the critical path may make no difference at all, because other work was going to take longer anyway.
The end of the batch usually has a deadline. Online services need to open in the morning, files must reach a payment network by a set time, and statements must be ready for printing. Missing it can have real costs, including penalties under agreements with customers or partners.
Schedulers can show the critical path and warn when it is running late. When a job fails at night, the first question support staff ask is whether it is on the critical path, because that decides whether to wake people up now or deal with it in the morning.
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- Batch windowThe period, usually overnight, in which batch work has to finish before the business needs the systems back.
- Job dependencyA rule that a job must wait for something else first, usually another job finishing successfully.
- Batch schedulerSoftware that submits production jobs automatically in the right order, at the right time, based on what has already succeeded.
- Production supportKeeping live systems running: diagnosing failures, fixing what broke, and getting the service back.
- Control-MBMC's batch scheduling product, which decides when each job runs based on times, dependencies and conditions.