The virtual system model: a scalable approach to organizing large systems
Barry Clifford Neuman · 1992
Naming is critical in distributed systems. Names identify files, services, processors, and users. A name service translates the names of objects to the information needed to access those objects. The growth of distributed systems brings with it an increase in the number of objects to be named. Existing naming techniques are derived from techniques used on centralized systems and are not sufficient for organizing the large number of objects that are becoming available. This dissertation presents the Virtual System Model, a new model for naming that helps users organize the information available in large systems. The Virtual System Model has four principal features: support for customizable name spaces, tools to help users construct name spaces, support for synonyms, and a m...