02-07-2012, 11:11 AM
The Amoeba Distributed Operating System
The Amoeba Distributed Operating System.pdf (Size: 38.86 KB / Downloads: 69)
INTRODUCTION
In the 1980s, prices came down to the point where each user could have his or her
own personal computer or workstation. These machines were often networked together,
so that users could do remote logins on other people’s computers or share files in various
(often ad hoc) ways.
Nowadays some systems have many processors per user, either in the form of a
parallel computer or a large collection of CPUs shared by a small user community. Such
systems are usually called parallel or distributed computer systems.
WHAT IS AMOEBA?
Amoeba is a general-purpose distributed operating system. It is designed to take a
collection of machines and make them act together as a single integrated system. In
general, users are not aware of the number and location of the processors that run their
commands, nor of the number and location of the file servers that store their files. To
the casual user, an Amoeba system looks like a single old-fashioned time-sharing
system.
Amoeba is an ongoing research project. It should be thought of as a platform for
doing research and development in distributed and parallel systems, languages, protocols
and applications. Although it provides some UNIX emulation, and has a definite
UNIX-like flavor (including over 100 UNIX-like utilities), it is NOT a plug-compatible
replacement for UNIX. It should be of interest to educators and researchers who want
the source code of a distributed operating system to inspect and tinker with, as well as to
those who need a base to run distributed and parallel applications.
Amoeba is intended for both ‘‘distributed’’ computing (multiple independent users
working on different projects) and ‘‘parallel’’ computing (e.g., one user using 50 CPUs
to play chess in parallel). Amoeba provides the necessary mechanism for doing both
distributed and parallel applications, but the policy is entirely determined by user-level
programs. For example, both a traditional (i.e. sequential) ‘make’ and a new parallel
‘amake’ are supplied.
DESIGN GOALS
The basic design goals of Amoeba are:
The Amoeba Distributed Operating System.pdf (Size: 38.86 KB / Downloads: 69)
INTRODUCTION
In the 1980s, prices came down to the point where each user could have his or her
own personal computer or workstation. These machines were often networked together,
so that users could do remote logins on other people’s computers or share files in various
(often ad hoc) ways.
Nowadays some systems have many processors per user, either in the form of a
parallel computer or a large collection of CPUs shared by a small user community. Such
systems are usually called parallel or distributed computer systems.
WHAT IS AMOEBA?
Amoeba is a general-purpose distributed operating system. It is designed to take a
collection of machines and make them act together as a single integrated system. In
general, users are not aware of the number and location of the processors that run their
commands, nor of the number and location of the file servers that store their files. To
the casual user, an Amoeba system looks like a single old-fashioned time-sharing
system.
Amoeba is an ongoing research project. It should be thought of as a platform for
doing research and development in distributed and parallel systems, languages, protocols
and applications. Although it provides some UNIX emulation, and has a definite
UNIX-like flavor (including over 100 UNIX-like utilities), it is NOT a plug-compatible
replacement for UNIX. It should be of interest to educators and researchers who want
the source code of a distributed operating system to inspect and tinker with, as well as to
those who need a base to run distributed and parallel applications.
Amoeba is intended for both ‘‘distributed’’ computing (multiple independent users
working on different projects) and ‘‘parallel’’ computing (e.g., one user using 50 CPUs
to play chess in parallel). Amoeba provides the necessary mechanism for doing both
distributed and parallel applications, but the policy is entirely determined by user-level
programs. For example, both a traditional (i.e. sequential) ‘make’ and a new parallel
‘amake’ are supplied.
DESIGN GOALS
The basic design goals of Amoeba are: