FAULT TOLERANT MACH SERVER

THE FAULT TOLERANT MACH SERVER PRESENTED IN THIS PROPOSAL WILL PROVIDE DEVELOPERS AND USERS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE, MACH BASED, MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL COMPUTING SYSTEMS WITH FACILITIES FOR SUBSTANTAILLY INCREASING SYSTEM DEPENDATIBLITY. CURRENTLY, THESE SYSTEMS DO NOT PROVIDE ADEQUATE FAULT TOLERANT SERVICES. IN ADDITION, MANY OF THEIR KEY OPERATING SYSTEM FUNCTIONS ARE HIGHLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO INPUT AND APPLICATION PROGRAM FAULTS. BECAUSE FAULT TOLERANT SERVICES CAUSE PERFORMANCE DEGRADATION, THE FAULT TOLERANT MACH SERVER WILL PROVIDE A FLEXIBLE, DYNAMICALLY TUNABLE, DESIGN, SO THAT USERS WILL BE ABLE TO "DIAL THEIR OWN DEGREE OF PARANOIA", DEPENDING ON THEIR SPECIFIC SYSTEM DEPENDABILITY REQUIREMENTS. THE DESIGN WILL UTILIZE "SERVER-SENTRY" FAULT MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS DERIVED FROM FAULT TOLERANT SERVER RESEARCH AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY (CMU), AND FROM RELATED EARLIER CMU AUTOMATED INSTRUMENTATION AND TESTING RESEARCH RESULTS CURRENTLY BEING CUSTOMIZED FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS BY SYSTEM/TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (STDC). DURING PHASE I OF THE PROPOSED PROGRAM SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION AND A PRELIMINARY DESIGN FOR FUALT TOLERANT MACH SERVER WILL BE DOCUMENTED, AND ADVANCED AUTOMATED SOFTWARE INSTRUMENTATION AND TESTING TOLLS REQUIRED FOR ITS IMPLEMENTATION WILL BE DEMONSTRATED. THIS WORK WILL ESTABLISH THE FOUNDATION REQUIRED FOR SERVER IMPLEMENTATION AND DEMONSTRATION IN PHASE II. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS: CONTINUING INCREASES IN THE PERFORMANCE AND COMPLEXITY OF BOTH MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL COMPUTING SYSTEMS IS CREATING GROWING CLASSES OF SYSTEM APPLICATIONS IN THICK ERRORS AND FAILURES IN THE SYSTEM'S SERVICE WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF CAUSING CATASTROPHIC PHYSICAL, SECURITY AND/OR ECONOMIC IMPACTS. THE FAULT TOLERANT MACH SERVER ENVIRONMENT THAT WILL RESULT FROM PHASE II OF THIS PROPOSED PROJECT WILL SERVE AS BOTH A PROOF OF PRINCIPAL AND AS THE TECHNICAL FOUNDATION FOR SERVERS THAT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE DEPENDABILITY OF THE SYTSEMS IN WHICH THEY ARE INCORPORATED.