LABNET OPERATING SYSTEM AND HOST WORKSTATIONS

MOST COMPUTING AND RESEARCH LABORATORIES ARE NOW INSTALLING, OR HAVE INSTALLED, DATA COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS TO ALLOW EASY DATA SHARING AND ACCESS TO ASSORTED COMPUTING FACILITIES, E.G., A VAX OR CRAY MAY BE ACCESSED FROM A PROGRAMMER WORKSTATION. THIS METHOD OF RESOURCE SHARING ALLOWS FOR ONLY LIMITED INCREASES IN COMPUTATIONAL POWER BY THE PARALLEL EXECUTION OF PROGRAMS. THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES TECHNIQUES WHICH WILL INCREASE COMPUTATIONAL POWER BY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF PARALLELISM INHERENT IN A RICHLY INTERCONNECTED COMPUTING COMPLEX. BY EXECUTING A PARTICULAR PROGRAM ON A PARTICULAR MACHINE IT IS UP TO THE USER TO EXPLICITLY GAIN ACCESS TO THE MACHINE AND EXECUTE THE APPROPRIATE PROGRAM. THIS REQUIRES THAT EITHER EACH USER MAINTAIN SEPARATE ACCOUNTS ON EACH POTENTIAL MACHINE, OR ALL MACHINES HAVE A 'GUEST GUEST' OR EQUIVALENT LOGIN. NEITHER OF THESE SITUATIONS IS DESIRABLE. THE TECHNIQUE PROPOSED ALSO REDUCES ADMINISTRATIVE AND USER BURDENS BY ADMINISTERING THE ENTIRE NETWORK AS A SINGLE COMPUTTING COMPLEX. THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM WILL DEVELOP A GENERALIZED, DISTRIBUTED LABNET OPERATING SYSTEM (DISTLOS) ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN DISTLOS FOR A HOMOGENEOUS SYSTEM, AND PROVIDE A DEMONSTRATION OF A PROTOTYPE DISTLOS ON A SYSTEM OF DISTLOS WORKSTATIONS.