Chapter 2. Distributed system architecture model

Abstract

We have presented a general multidimensional model for a distributed system architecture that, we believe, usefully serves to unify design issues, analysis, system organization, and should be useful in establishing standards for required interfaces. We have also introduced design goals and issues that will be discussed, along with details of useful mechanisms, further in later chapters. The central features of the model are that it emphasizes

• layering and modularity,

• the need to explicity create a distributed operating system built around a a unified view of objects or resources and their servers,

• the need to abstract and understand the common issues at all levels,

• a message based IPC, and

• the need to support both transaction and stream oriented services and applications.

This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory under contract No. W-7405-eng-48.