A Model and Prototype of VMS Using the Mach 3.0 Kernel
Cheryl A. Wiecek · 1992
Digital’s VMS operating system has been a successful software base for our VAX processors since the late 1970’s. Existing operating systems are facing many new requirements and challenges in the 1990’s and beyond. This has led us to investigate new approaches for designing, implementing, and maintaining VMS. One such effort is described in this paper. Using the Mach 3.0 kernel from Carnegie Mellon University, we developed a multi-server model and prototype of VMS that emphasizes platformindependence and internal partitioning. We describe the challenges we faced, the model that we evolved to address these challenges, and the prototype that we built to demonstrate feasibility. We conclude with a discussion of our findings and possible future directions.