Design of a Linda kernal using causal multicast
Kim Shearer · 1994
Load balancing across a network of independent computers is an inherently difficult task: even when implemented, issues • of granularity can render a system ineffective.This paper presents a distributed Linda system, implemented using the Isis distributed toolkit.The Isis tools are used to provide, in a simple fashion, primitive load balancing at the thread level.The Isis toolkit provides a set of ordered multicast protocols, and a number of tools to support replication and fault tolerance.Recent work on the Isis system has focused on integrating the basic services into a microkernel operating system, such as Much or Chorus.The Linda server discussed in this paper is an example of a system which must manage a shared resource, a common task for system server applications.In this paper the advantages of using a system such as Isis are clearly, demonstrated.This indicates that the inclusion of this type of service in a microkernel operating system should prove highly useful in system programming tasks.