Make smart futures avoid polling.
[python_utils.git] / executors.py
index 6723bb9e2df4f1990f9780f15a813e6a4b3f0548..c11bd546cc3b1b0afcefff8c3215aab2707db147 100644 (file)
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ from overrides import overrides
 from ansi import bg, fg, underline, reset
 import argparse_utils
 import config
-from exec_utils import run_silently, cmd_in_background
 from decorator_utils import singleton
+from exec_utils import run_silently, cmd_in_background, cmd_with_timeout
 import histogram as hist
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -197,6 +197,11 @@ class ProcessExecutor(BaseExecutor):
         return state
 
 
+class RemoteExecutorException(Exception):
+    """Thrown when a bundle cannot be executed despite several retries."""
+    pass
+
+
 @dataclass
 class RemoteWorkerRecord:
     username: str
@@ -225,14 +230,42 @@ class BundleDetails:
     pid: int
     start_ts: float
     end_ts: float
-    too_slow: bool
-    super_slow: bool
+    slower_than_local_p95: bool
+    slower_than_global_p95: bool
     src_bundle: BundleDetails
     is_cancelled: threading.Event
     was_cancelled: bool
     backup_bundles: Optional[List[BundleDetails]]
     failure_count: int
 
+    def __repr__(self):
+        uuid = self.uuid
+        if uuid[-9:-2] == '_backup':
+            uuid = uuid[:-9]
+            suffix = f'{uuid[-6:]}_b{self.uuid[-1:]}'
+        else:
+            suffix = uuid[-6:]
+
+        colorz = [
+            fg('violet red'),
+            fg('red'),
+            fg('orange'),
+            fg('peach orange'),
+            fg('yellow'),
+            fg('marigold yellow'),
+            fg('green yellow'),
+            fg('tea green'),
+            fg('cornflower blue'),
+            fg('turquoise blue'),
+            fg('tropical blue'),
+            fg('lavender purple'),
+            fg('medium purple'),
+        ]
+        c = colorz[int(uuid[-2:], 16) % len(colorz)]
+        fname = self.fname if self.fname is not None else 'nofname'
+        machine = self.machine if self.machine is not None else 'nomachine'
+        return f'{c}{suffix}/{fname}/{machine}{reset()}'
+
 
 class RemoteExecutorStatus:
     def __init__(self, total_worker_count: int) -> None:
@@ -275,7 +308,7 @@ class RemoteExecutorStatus:
     ) -> None:
         assert self.lock.locked()
         self.known_workers.add(worker)
-        self.start_per_bundle[uuid] = time.time()
+        self.start_per_bundle[uuid] = None
         x = self.in_flight_bundles_by_worker.get(worker, set())
         x.add(uuid)
         self.in_flight_bundles_by_worker[worker] = x
@@ -292,6 +325,17 @@ class RemoteExecutorStatus:
         assert self.lock.locked()
         self.bundle_details_by_uuid[details.uuid] = details
 
+    def record_release_worker(
+            self,
+            worker: RemoteWorkerRecord,
+            uuid: str,
+            was_cancelled: bool,
+    ) -> None:
+        with self.lock:
+            self.record_release_worker_already_locked(
+                worker, uuid, was_cancelled
+            )
+
     def record_release_worker_already_locked(
             self,
             worker: RemoteWorkerRecord,
@@ -309,6 +353,10 @@ class RemoteExecutorStatus:
             self.finished_bundle_timings_per_worker[worker] = x
             self.finished_bundle_timings.append(bundle_latency)
 
+    def record_processing_began(self, uuid: str):
+        with self.lock:
+            self.start_per_bundle[uuid] = time.time()
+
     def total_in_flight(self) -> int:
         assert self.lock.locked()
         total_in_flight = 0
@@ -360,27 +408,30 @@ class RemoteExecutorStatus:
                         bundle_uuid,
                         None
                     )
-                    pid = str(details.pid) if details is not None else "TBD"
-                    sec = ts - self.start_per_bundle[bundle_uuid]
-                    ret += f'       (pid={pid}): {bundle_uuid} for {sec:.1f}s so far '
+                    pid = str(details.pid) if (details and details.pid != 0) else "TBD"
+                    if self.start_per_bundle[bundle_uuid] is not None:
+                        sec = ts - self.start_per_bundle[bundle_uuid]
+                        ret += f'       (pid={pid}): {details} for {sec:.1f}s so far '
+                    else:
+                        ret += f'       {details} setting up / copying data...'
+                        sec = 0.0
+
                     if qworker is not None:
                         if sec > qworker[1]:
                             ret += f'{bg("red")}>💻p95{reset()} '
-                        elif sec > qworker[0]:
-                            ret += f'{fg("red")}>💻p50{reset()} '
-                    if qall is not None:
-                        if sec > qall[1] * 1.5:
-                            ret += f'{bg("red")}!!!{reset()}'
                             if details is not None:
-                                logger.debug(f'Flagging {details.uuid} for another backup')
-                                details.super_slow = True
-                        elif sec > qall[1]:
+                                details.slower_than_local_p95 = True
+                        else:
+                            if details is not None:
+                                details.slower_than_local_p95 = False
+
+                    if qall is not None:
+                        if sec > qall[1]:
                             ret += f'{bg("red")}>∀p95{reset()} '
                             if details is not None:
-                                logger.debug(f'Flagging {details.uuid} for a backup')
-                                details.too_slow = True
-                        elif sec > qall[0]:
-                            ret += f'{fg("red")}>∀p50{reset()}'
+                                details.slower_than_global_p95 = True
+                        else:
+                            details.slower_than_global_p95 = False
                     ret += '\n'
         return ret
 
@@ -398,7 +449,6 @@ class RemoteExecutorStatus:
 
 class RemoteWorkerSelectionPolicy(ABC):
     def register_worker_pool(self, workers):
-        random.seed()
         self.workers = workers
 
     @abstractmethod
@@ -414,12 +464,14 @@ class RemoteWorkerSelectionPolicy(ABC):
 
 
 class WeightedRandomRemoteWorkerSelectionPolicy(RemoteWorkerSelectionPolicy):
+    @overrides
     def is_worker_available(self) -> bool:
         for worker in self.workers:
             if worker.count > 0:
                 return True
         return False
 
+    @overrides
     def acquire_worker(
             self,
             machine_to_avoid = None
@@ -446,12 +498,14 @@ class RoundRobinRemoteWorkerSelectionPolicy(RemoteWorkerSelectionPolicy):
     def __init__(self) -> None:
         self.index = 0
 
+    @overrides
     def is_worker_available(self) -> bool:
         for worker in self.workers:
             if worker.count > 0:
                 return True
         return False
 
+    @overrides
     def acquire_worker(
             self,
             machine_to_avoid: str = None
@@ -488,18 +542,18 @@ class RemoteExecutor(BaseExecutor):
         if self.worker_count <= 0:
             msg = f"We need somewhere to schedule work; count was {self.worker_count}"
             logger.critical(msg)
-            raise Exception(msg)
+            raise RemoteExecutorException(msg)
         self.policy.register_worker_pool(self.workers)
         self.cv = threading.Condition()
+        logger.debug(f'Creating {self.worker_count} local threads, one per remote worker.')
         self._helper_executor = fut.ThreadPoolExecutor(
             thread_name_prefix="remote_executor_helper",
             max_workers=self.worker_count,
         )
         self.status = RemoteExecutorStatus(self.worker_count)
         self.total_bundles_submitted = 0
-        logger.debug(
-            f'Creating remote processpool with {self.worker_count} remote worker threads.'
-        )
+        self.backup_lock = threading.Lock()
+        self.last_backup = None
 
     def is_worker_available(self) -> bool:
         return self.policy.is_worker_available()
@@ -535,38 +589,86 @@ class RemoteExecutor(BaseExecutor):
             # Regular progress report
             self.status.periodic_dump(self.total_bundles_submitted)
 
-            # Look for bundles to reschedule
-            if len(self.status.finished_bundle_timings) > 7:
-                for worker, bundle_uuids in self.status.in_flight_bundles_by_worker.items():
-                    for uuid in bundle_uuids:
-                        bundle = self.status.bundle_details_by_uuid.get(uuid, None)
-                        if (
-                                bundle is not None and
-                                bundle.too_slow and
-                                bundle.src_bundle is None and
-                                config.config['executors_schedule_remote_backups']
-                        ):
-                            self.consider_backup_for_bundle(bundle)
-
-    def consider_backup_for_bundle(self, bundle: BundleDetails) -> None:
-        assert self.status.lock.locked()
-        if (
-            bundle.too_slow
-            and len(bundle.backup_bundles) == 0       # one backup per
-        ):
-            msg = f"*** Rescheduling {bundle.pid}/{bundle.uuid} ***"
-            logger.debug(msg)
-            self.schedule_backup_for_bundle(bundle)
-            return
-        elif (
-                bundle.super_slow
-                and len(bundle.backup_bundles) < 2    # two backups in dire situations
-                and self.status.total_idle() > 4
-        ):
-            msg = f"*** Rescheduling {bundle.pid}/{bundle.uuid} ***"
-            logger.debug(msg)
-            self.schedule_backup_for_bundle(bundle)
-            return
+            # Look for bundles to reschedule.
+            num_done = len(self.status.finished_bundle_timings)
+            num_idle_workers = self.worker_count - self.task_count
+            now = time.time()
+            if (
+                    config.config['executors_schedule_remote_backups']
+                    and num_done > 2
+                    and num_idle_workers > 1
+                    and (self.last_backup is None or (now - self.last_backup > 1.0))
+                    and self.backup_lock.acquire(blocking=False)
+            ):
+                try:
+                    assert self.backup_lock.locked()
+
+                    bundle_to_backup = None
+                    best_score = None
+                    for worker, bundle_uuids in self.status.in_flight_bundles_by_worker.items():
+                        # Prefer to schedule backups of bundles on slower machines.
+                        base_score = 0
+                        for record in self.workers:
+                            if worker.machine == record.machine:
+                                base_score = float(record.weight)
+                                base_score = 1.0 / base_score
+                                base_score *= 200.0
+                                base_score = int(base_score)
+                                break
+
+                        for uuid in bundle_uuids:
+                            bundle = self.status.bundle_details_by_uuid.get(uuid, None)
+                            if (
+                                    bundle is not None
+                                    and bundle.src_bundle is None
+                                    and bundle.backup_bundles is not None
+                            ):
+                                score = base_score
+
+                                # Schedule backups of bundles running longer; especially those
+                                # that are unexpectedly slow.
+                                start_ts = self.status.start_per_bundle[uuid]
+                                if start_ts is not None:
+                                    runtime = now - start_ts
+                                    score += runtime
+                                    logger.debug(f'score[{bundle}] => {score}  # latency boost')
+
+                                    if bundle.slower_than_local_p95:
+                                        score += runtime / 2
+                                        logger.debug(f'score[{bundle}] => {score}  # >worker p95')
+
+                                    if bundle.slower_than_global_p95:
+                                        score += runtime / 2
+                                        logger.debug(f'score[{bundle}] => {score}  # >global p95')
+
+                                # Prefer backups of bundles that don't have backups already.
+                                backup_count = len(bundle.backup_bundles)
+                                if backup_count == 0:
+                                    score *= 2
+                                elif backup_count == 1:
+                                    score /= 2
+                                elif backup_count == 2:
+                                    score /= 8
+                                else:
+                                    score = 0
+                                logger.debug(f'score[{bundle}] => {score}  # {backup_count} dup backup factor')
+
+                                if (
+                                        score != 0
+                                        and (best_score is None or score > best_score)
+                                ):
+                                    bundle_to_backup = bundle
+                                    assert bundle is not None
+                                    assert bundle.backup_bundles is not None
+                                    assert bundle.src_bundle is None
+                                    best_score = score
+
+                    if bundle_to_backup is not None:
+                        self.last_backup = now
+                        logger.info(f'=====> SCHEDULING BACKUP {bundle_to_backup} (score={best_score:.1f}) <=====')
+                        self.schedule_backup_for_bundle(bundle_to_backup)
+                finally:
+                    self.backup_lock.release()
 
     def check_if_cancelled(self, bundle: BundleDetails) -> bool:
         with self.status.lock:
@@ -576,25 +678,28 @@ class RemoteExecutor(BaseExecutor):
                 return True
         return False
 
-    def launch(self, bundle: BundleDetails) -> Any:
+    def launch(self, bundle: BundleDetails, override_avoid_machine=None) -> Any:
         """Find a worker for bundle or block until one is available."""
         self.adjust_task_count(+1)
         uuid = bundle.uuid
         hostname = bundle.hostname
-        avoid_machine = None
+        avoid_machine = override_avoid_machine
+        is_original = bundle.src_bundle is None
 
         # Try not to schedule a backup on the same host as the original.
-        if bundle.src_bundle is not None:
+        if avoid_machine is None and bundle.src_bundle is not None:
             avoid_machine = bundle.src_bundle.machine
         worker = None
         while worker is None:
             worker = self.find_available_worker_or_block(avoid_machine)
+
+        # Ok, found a worker.
         bundle.worker = worker
         machine = bundle.machine = worker.machine
         username = bundle.username = worker.username
-        fname = bundle.fname
+
         self.status.record_acquire_worker(worker, uuid)
-        logger.debug(f'Running bundle {uuid} on {worker}...')
+        logger.debug(f'{bundle}: Running bundle on {worker}...')
 
         # Before we do any work, make sure the bundle is still viable.
         if self.check_if_cancelled(bundle):
@@ -602,54 +707,149 @@ class RemoteExecutor(BaseExecutor):
                 return self.post_launch_work(bundle)
             except Exception as e:
                 logger.exception(e)
-                logger.info(f"{uuid}/{fname}: bundle seems to have failed?!")
-                if bundle.failure_count < config.config['executors_max_bundle_failures']:
-                    return self.launch(bundle)
+                logger.error(
+                    f'{bundle}: bundle says it\'s cancelled upfront but no results?!'
+                )
+                assert bundle.worker is not None
+                self.status.record_release_worker(
+                    bundle.worker,
+                    bundle.uuid,
+                    True,
+                )
+                self.release_worker(bundle.worker)
+                self.adjust_task_count(-1)
+                if is_original:
+                    # Weird.  We are the original owner of this
+                    # bundle.  For it to have been cancelled, a backup
+                    # must have already started and completed before
+                    # we even for started.  Moreover, the backup says
+                    # it is done but we can't find the results it
+                    # should have copied over.  Reschedule the whole
+                    # thing.
+                    return self.emergency_retry_nasty_bundle(bundle)
                 else:
-                    logger.info(f"{uuid}/{fname}: bundle is poison, giving up on it.")
+                    # Expected(?).  We're a backup and our bundle is
+                    # cancelled before we even got started.  Something
+                    # went bad in post_launch_work (I acutually don't
+                    # see what?) but probably not worth worrying
+                    # about.
                     return None
 
-        # Send input to machine if it's not local.
+        # Send input code / data to worker machine if it's not local.
         if hostname not in machine:
-            cmd = f'{RSYNC} {bundle.code_file} {username}@{machine}:{bundle.code_file}'
-            logger.info(f"{uuid}/{fname}: Copying work to {worker} via {cmd}")
-            run_silently(cmd)
+            try:
+                cmd = f'{RSYNC} {bundle.code_file} {username}@{machine}:{bundle.code_file}'
+                start_ts = time.time()
+                logger.info(f"{bundle}: Copying work to {worker} via {cmd}.")
+                run_silently(cmd)
+                xfer_latency = time.time() - start_ts
+                logger.info(f"{bundle}: Copying done to {worker} in {xfer_latency:.1f}s.")
+            except Exception as e:
+                logger.exception(e)
+                logger.error(
+                    f'{bundle}: failed to send instructions to worker machine?!?'
+                )
+                assert bundle.worker is not None
+                self.status.record_release_worker(
+                    bundle.worker,
+                    bundle.uuid,
+                    True,
+                )
+                self.release_worker(bundle.worker)
+                self.adjust_task_count(-1)
+                if is_original:
+                    # Weird.  We tried to copy the code to the worker and it failed...
+                    # And we're the original bundle.  We have to retry.
+                    return self.emergency_retry_nasty_bundle(bundle)
+                else:
+                    # This is actually expected; we're a backup.
+                    # There's a race condition where someone else
+                    # already finished the work and removed the source
+                    # code file before we could copy it.  No biggie.
+                    return None
 
-        # Do it.
+        # Kick off the work.  Note that if this fails we let
+        # wait_for_process deal with it.
+        self.status.record_processing_began(uuid)
         cmd = (f'{SSH} {bundle.username}@{bundle.machine} '
                f'"source py39-venv/bin/activate &&'
                f' /home/scott/lib/python_modules/remote_worker.py'
                f' --code_file {bundle.code_file} --result_file {bundle.result_file}"')
+        logger.debug(f'{bundle}: Executing {cmd} in the background to kick off work...')
         p = cmd_in_background(cmd, silent=True)
         bundle.pid = pid = p.pid
-        logger.info(f"{uuid}/{fname}: Start training on {worker} via {cmd} (background pid {pid})")
+        logger.debug(f'{bundle}: Local ssh process pid={pid}; remote worker is {machine}.')
+        return self.wait_for_process(p, bundle, 0)
+
+    def wait_for_process(self, p: subprocess.Popen, bundle: BundleDetails, depth: int) -> Any:
+        machine = bundle.machine
+        pid = p.pid
+        if depth > 3:
+            logger.error(
+                f"I've gotten repeated errors waiting on this bundle; giving up on pid={pid}."
+            )
+            p.terminate()
+            self.status.record_release_worker(
+                bundle.worker,
+                bundle.uuid,
+                True,
+            )
+            self.release_worker(bundle.worker)
+            self.adjust_task_count(-1)
+            return self.emergency_retry_nasty_bundle(bundle)
 
+        # Spin until either the ssh job we scheduled finishes the
+        # bundle or some backup worker signals that they finished it
+        # before we could.
         while True:
             try:
                 p.wait(timeout=0.25)
             except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
                 self.heartbeat()
-
-                # Both source and backup bundles can be cancelled by
-                # the other depending on which finishes first.
                 if self.check_if_cancelled(bundle):
-                    p.terminate()
+                    logger.info(
+                        f'{bundle}: another worker finished bundle, checking it out...'
+                    )
                     break
             else:
-                logger.debug(
-                    f"{uuid}/{fname}: pid {pid} has finished its work normally."
+                logger.info(
+                    f"{bundle}: pid {pid} ({machine}) our ssh finished, checking it out..."
                 )
+                p = None
                 break
 
+        # If we get here we believe the bundle is done; either the ssh
+        # subprocess finished (hopefully successfully) or we noticed
+        # that some other worker seems to have completed the bundle
+        # and we're bailing out.
         try:
-            return self.post_launch_work(bundle)
+            ret = self.post_launch_work(bundle)
+            if ret is not None and p is not None:
+                p.terminate()
+            return ret
+
+        # Something went wrong; e.g. we could not copy the results
+        # back, cleanup after ourselves on the remote machine, or
+        # unpickle the results we got from the remove machine.  If we
+        # still have an active ssh subprocess, keep waiting on it.
+        # Otherwise, time for an emergency reschedule.
         except Exception as e:
             logger.exception(e)
-            logger.info(f"{uuid}: Bundle seems to have failed?!")
-            if bundle.failure_count < config.config['executors_max_bundle_failures']:
-                return self.launch(bundle)
-            logger.info(f"{uuid}: Bundle is poison, giving up on it.")
-            return None
+            logger.error(f'{bundle}: Something unexpected just happened...')
+            if p is not None:
+                logger.warning(
+                    f"{bundle}: Failed to wrap up \"done\" bundle, re-waiting on active ssh."
+                )
+                return self.wait_for_process(p, bundle, depth + 1)
+            else:
+                self.status.record_release_worker(
+                    bundle.worker,
+                    bundle.uuid,
+                    True,
+                )
+                self.release_worker(bundle.worker)
+                self.adjust_task_count(-1)
+                return self.emergency_retry_nasty_bundle(bundle)
 
     def post_launch_work(self, bundle: BundleDetails) -> Any:
         with self.status.lock:
@@ -659,8 +859,6 @@ class RemoteExecutor(BaseExecutor):
             machine = bundle.machine
             result_file = bundle.result_file
             code_file = bundle.code_file
-            fname = bundle.fname
-            uuid = bundle.uuid
 
             # Whether original or backup, if we finished first we must
             # fetch the results if the computation happened on a
@@ -671,22 +869,16 @@ class RemoteExecutor(BaseExecutor):
                 if bundle.hostname not in bundle.machine:
                     cmd = f'{RSYNC} {username}@{machine}:{result_file} {result_file} 2>/dev/null'
                     logger.info(
-                        f"{uuid}/{fname}: Fetching results from {username}@{machine} via {cmd}"
+                        f"{bundle}: Fetching results from {username}@{machine} via {cmd}"
                     )
-                    try:
-                        run_silently(cmd)
-                    except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
-                        logger.critical(f'Failed to copy {username}@{machine}:{result_file}!')
+
+                    # If either of these throw they are handled in
+                    # wait_for_process.
+                    run_silently(cmd)
                     run_silently(f'{SSH} {username}@{machine}'
                                  f' "/bin/rm -f {code_file} {result_file}"')
                 dur = bundle.end_ts - bundle.start_ts
                 self.histogram.add_item(dur)
-            assert bundle.worker is not None
-            self.status.record_release_worker_already_locked(
-                bundle.worker,
-                bundle.uuid,
-                was_cancelled
-            )
 
         # Only the original worker should unpickle the file contents
         # though since it's the only one whose result matters.  The
@@ -695,17 +887,28 @@ class RemoteExecutor(BaseExecutor):
         # if one of the backups finished first; it still must read the
         # result from disk.
         if is_original:
-            logger.debug(f"{uuid}/{fname}: Unpickling {result_file}.")
+            logger.debug(f"{bundle}: Unpickling {result_file}.")
             try:
                 with open(f'{result_file}', 'rb') as rb:
                     serialized = rb.read()
                 result = cloudpickle.loads(serialized)
             except Exception as e:
-                msg = f'Failed to load {result_file}'
+                msg = f'Failed to load {result_file}, this is bad news.'
                 logger.critical(msg)
-                bundle.failure_count += 1
+                self.status.record_release_worker(
+                    bundle.worker,
+                    bundle.uuid,
+                    True,
+                )
                 self.release_worker(bundle.worker)
+
+                # Re-raise the exception; the code in wait_for_process may
+                # decide to emergency_retry_nasty_bundle here.
                 raise Exception(e)
+
+            logger.debug(
+                f'Removing local (master) {code_file} and {result_file}.'
+            )
             os.remove(f'{result_file}')
             os.remove(f'{code_file}')
 
@@ -716,11 +919,12 @@ class RemoteExecutor(BaseExecutor):
             if bundle.backup_bundles is not None:
                 for backup in bundle.backup_bundles:
                     logger.debug(
-                        f'{uuid}/{fname}: Notifying backup {backup.uuid} that it\'s cancelled'
+                        f'{bundle}: Notifying backup {backup.uuid} that it\'s cancelled'
                     )
                     backup.is_cancelled.set()
 
-        # This is a backup job.
+        # This is a backup job and, by now, we have already fetched
+        # the bundle results.
         else:
             # Backup results don't matter, they just need to leave the
             # result file in the right place for their originals to
@@ -730,11 +934,16 @@ class RemoteExecutor(BaseExecutor):
             # Tell the original to stop if we finished first.
             if not was_cancelled:
                 logger.debug(
-                    f'{uuid}/{fname}: Notifying original {bundle.src_bundle.uuid} that it\'s cancelled'
+                    f'{bundle}: Notifying original {bundle.src_bundle.uuid} we beat them to it.'
                 )
                 bundle.src_bundle.is_cancelled.set()
 
         assert bundle.worker is not None
+        self.status.record_release_worker(
+            bundle.worker,
+            bundle.uuid,
+            was_cancelled,
+        )
         self.release_worker(bundle.worker)
         self.adjust_task_count(-1)
         return result
@@ -762,8 +971,8 @@ class RemoteExecutor(BaseExecutor):
             pid = 0,
             start_ts = time.time(),
             end_ts = 0.0,
-            too_slow = False,
-            super_slow = False,
+            slower_than_local_p95 = False,
+            slower_than_global_p95 = False,
             src_bundle = None,
             is_cancelled = threading.Event(),
             was_cancelled = False,
@@ -771,7 +980,7 @@ class RemoteExecutor(BaseExecutor):
             failure_count = 0,
         )
         self.status.record_bundle_details(bundle)
-        logger.debug(f'{uuid}/{fname}: Created original bundle')
+        logger.debug(f'{bundle}: Created an original bundle')
         return bundle
 
     def create_backup_bundle(self, src_bundle: BundleDetails):
@@ -792,8 +1001,8 @@ class RemoteExecutor(BaseExecutor):
             pid = 0,
             start_ts = time.time(),
             end_ts = 0.0,
-            too_slow = False,
-            super_slow = False,
+            slower_than_local_p95 = False,
+            slower_than_global_p95 = False,
             src_bundle = src_bundle,
             is_cancelled = threading.Event(),
             was_cancelled = False,
@@ -802,12 +1011,13 @@ class RemoteExecutor(BaseExecutor):
         )
         src_bundle.backup_bundles.append(backup_bundle)
         self.status.record_bundle_details_already_locked(backup_bundle)
-        logger.debug(f'{uuid}/{src_bundle.fname}: Created backup bundle')
+        logger.debug(f'{backup_bundle}: Created a backup bundle')
         return backup_bundle
 
     def schedule_backup_for_bundle(self,
                                    src_bundle: BundleDetails):
         assert self.status.lock.locked()
+        assert src_bundle is not None
         backup_bundle = self.create_backup_bundle(src_bundle)
         logger.debug(
             f'{backup_bundle.uuid}/{backup_bundle.fname}: Scheduling backup for execution...'
@@ -818,6 +1028,35 @@ class RemoteExecutor(BaseExecutor):
         # they will move the result_file to this machine and let
         # the original pick them up and unpickle them.
 
+    def emergency_retry_nasty_bundle(self, bundle: BundleDetails) -> fut.Future:
+        is_original = bundle.src_bundle is None
+        bundle.worker = None
+        avoid_last_machine = bundle.machine
+        bundle.machine = None
+        bundle.username = None
+        bundle.failure_count += 1
+        if is_original:
+            retry_limit = 3
+        else:
+            retry_limit = 2
+
+        if bundle.failure_count > retry_limit:
+            logger.error(
+                f'{bundle}: Tried this bundle too many times already ({retry_limit}x); giving up.'
+            )
+            if is_original:
+                raise RemoteExecutorException(
+                    f'{bundle}: This bundle can\'t be completed despite several backups and retries'
+                )
+            else:
+                logger.error(f'{bundle}: At least it\'s only a backup; better luck with the others.')
+            return None
+        else:
+            logger.warning(
+                f'>>> Emergency rescheduling {bundle} because of unexected errors (wtf?!) <<<'
+            )
+            return self.launch(bundle, avoid_last_machine)
+
     @overrides
     def submit(self,
                function: Callable,
@@ -844,12 +1083,14 @@ class DefaultExecutors(object):
 
     def ping(self, host) -> bool:
         logger.debug(f'RUN> ping -c 1 {host}')
-        command = ['ping', '-c', '1', host]
-        return subprocess.call(
-            command,
-            stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL,
-            stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL,
-        ) == 0
+        try:
+            x = cmd_with_timeout(
+                f'ping -c 1 {host} >/dev/null 2>/dev/null',
+                timeout_seconds=1.0
+            )
+            return x == 0
+        except Exception:
+            return False
 
     def thread_pool(self) -> ThreadExecutor:
         if self.thread_executor is None:
@@ -862,8 +1103,8 @@ class DefaultExecutors(object):
         return self.process_executor
 
     def remote_pool(self) -> RemoteExecutor:
-        logger.info('Looking for some helper machines...')
         if self.remote_executor is None:
+            logger.info('Looking for some helper machines...')
             pool: List[RemoteWorkerRecord] = []
             if self.ping('cheetah.house'):
                 logger.info('Found cheetah.house')
@@ -871,7 +1112,7 @@ class DefaultExecutors(object):
                     RemoteWorkerRecord(
                         username = 'scott',
                         machine = 'cheetah.house',
-                        weight = 12,
+                        weight = 14,
                         count = 4,
                     ),
                 )
@@ -905,16 +1146,6 @@ class DefaultExecutors(object):
                         count = 2,
                     ),
                 )
-            if self.ping('backup.house'):
-                logger.info('Found backup.house')
-                pool.append(
-                    RemoteWorkerRecord(
-                        username = 'scott',
-                        machine = 'backup.house',
-                        weight = 1,
-                        count = 4,
-                    ),
-                )
             if self.ping('kiosk.house'):
                 logger.info('Found kiosk.house')
                 pool.append(