Towards GRID Operating Systems: from GLinux to a GVM
Domenico Talia · 2005
This short position paper proposes a feasible approach for the development of operating system facilities to integrate machines in GRIDs. We propose a two-step strategy that in a first stage aims to integrate existing operating systems with a GRID through an interface based on a Grid Virtual Machine (GVM); in this phase Linux can be used as a use case for developing a Gridified operating system. The second stage should provide different versions of the GVM that can be configured on different devices implementing GRID nodes. Background and interest Today grid middleware is used to address the complexity of GRID environments and to help users in using GRID resources in an integrated way. This role in conventional computers is played by operating systems. Now it is time to develop a GRID operating system that may offer an integrated support for efficient management of local and remote resources available on a GRID environment to which a machine is connected. Without an operating system, Grids can fail the goal to enter mainstream computing and will not exploit all their functionality. As a conventional operating system provides an