The distributed computing operating system
Lawrence A. Rowe · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · 1975
The Distributed Computing System (DCS) is a computer network architecture emphasizing reliable, fail~soft service at a relatively low cost.This paper describes the design of an operating system for a DCS.Issues discussed include interprocess communication, system initiation, and failure detection and recovery.Features of the implementation of a prototype system and some experiences gained from building and using t~e prototype are also described.Conclusions made from this work are that problems and solutions discovered while developing minicomputer networks are the same as those encountered in developing networks of larger machines.Specificallyu DCS and its operating system demonstrate that systems without centralized control can be constructed, that broadcast messages are useful, and that messages which are sent to a process but are intercepted and acted upon by the environment of the receiving process are necessary to achieve location independence.