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The article deals with the problem of a distributed system operation reliability. The system core is an open integration platform that provides interaction of varied software for modeling gas transportation. Some of them provide an access through thin clients on the cloud technology “software as a service”. Mathematical models of operation, transmission and computing are to ensure the operation of an automated dispatching system for oil and gas transportation. The paper presents a system solution based on the theory of Markov random processes and considers the stable operation stage. The stationary operation mode of the Markov chain with continuous time and discrete states is described by a system of Chapman–Kolmogorov equations with respect to the average numbers (mathematical expectations) of the objects in certain states. The objects of research are both system elements that are present in a large number – thin clients and computing modules, and individual ones – a server, a network manager (message broker). Together, they are interacting Markov random processes. The interaction is determined by the fact that the transition probabilities in one group of elements depend on the average numbers of other elements groups.

The authors propose a multi-criteria dispersion model of risk assessment for such systems (both in the broad and narrow sense, in accordance with the IEC standard). The risk is the standard deviation of estimated object parameter from its average value. The dispersion risk model makes possible to define optimality criteria and whole system functioning risks. In particular, for a thin client, the following is calculated: the loss profit risk, the total risk of losses due to non-productive element states, and the total risk of all system states losses.

Finally the paper proposes compromise schemes for solving the multi-criteria problem of choosing the optimal operation strategy based on the selected set of compromise criteria.

Based on the time-discrete model, we study the effect of selective proportional harvesting on the population dynamics with age and sex structure. When constructing the model, we assume that the population birth rate depends on the ratio of the sexes and the number of formed pairs. The regulation of population growth is carried out by limiting the juvenile’s survival when the survival of immature individuals decreases with an increase in the numbers of sex and age classes. We consider cases where the harvest is carried out only from a younger age class or from a group of mature females or males. We find that the harvesting of males or females at the optimal level is responsible for changing the ratio of females to males (taking into account the average size of the harem). We show that the maximum number of harvested males is achieved either at such a harvest rate when their excess number is withdrawn and the balance of sexes is established or at such an optimal catch quota at which the sex ratio is shifted towards breeding females. Optimal female harvesting, in which the highest number of them are taken, either maintains a preexisting shortage of adult males or leads to an excess of males or the fixing of a sex balance. We find that, depending on the population parameters for all considered harvesting strategies, the hydra effect can observe, i. e., the equilibrium size of the exploited sex and age-specific group (after reproduction) can increase with the growth of harvesting intensity. The selective harvesting, due to which the hydra effect occurs, simultaneously leads to an increase remaining population size and the number of harvested individuals. At the same time, the size of the exploited group after reproduction can become even more than without exploitation. Equilibrium harvesting with the optimal harvest rate that maximizes yield leads to a population size decrease. The effect of hydra is at lower values of the catch quota than the optimal harvest rate. At the same time, the consequence of the hydra effect may be a higher abundance of the age-sex group under optimal exploitation compared to the level observed in the absence of harvesting.