A Decentralized Naming Facility
David R. Cheriton, Timothy Mann · 1986
A key component in distributed computer systems is the naming facility: the means by which highlevel names are bound to objects and by which objects are located given only their names. We describe the design, implementation, and performance of a decentralized naming facility, in which the global name space and name mapping mechanism are implemented by a set of cooperating peers, with no central authority. Decentralization is shown to lend increased extensibility and reliability to the design. Efficiency in name mapping is achieved through specialized caching techniques. Categories and Subject Descriptors: C.2.4 [Computer Systems Organization]: Distributed Systems; D.4.3 [Operating Systems]: File Systems Management---directory structures, distributed file systems; D.4.7 [Operating Systems]: Organization and Design. General Terms: Design, experimentation, measurement, performance, reliability Additional Key Words and Phrases: Naming, distributed system, fault tolerance, cache Authors' a...