Arms: a decentralised naming model for object-based distributed computing systems

Li, Jia (2010) Arms: a decentralised naming model for object-based distributed computing systems. PhD thesis, Murdoch University.

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Abstract

Entities communicate with one another in distributed computing systems via symbolic names. Implementing such communication requires a naming scheme that dynamically maps these symbolic names to physical nodes and processes. Traditionally, a centralised name server is deployed to perform such translations. However, a collaborative and dynamic environment requires a decentralised naming system due to reasons of efficiency and reliability.

ARMS (Adaptive, Randomised and Migration-enabled Scheme) is a novel decentralised naming scheme for distributed object-oriented computing systems. A notable feature of ARMS is that it provides direct naming supports for the patterns of object communication and object migration processes to achieve greater performance and scalability in executing object-oriented software within a distributed environment. These supports are driven by three key components: 1) an adaptive locating protocol that exploits the patterns of object communication and explores the best routing path in the face of the changing network conditions, 2) a randomised overlay that is a scalable and flexible substrate for routing name queries, and 3) a hybrid relocation scheme that provides a transparent and efficient means of referencing migrated objects.

The performance of ARMS has been examined using a number of real world Java-based benchmarking programs. Based on results in this study, ARMS has found to be superior to its structural counterpart – the Chord model because of the adaptive routing protocol and the resilient overlay. Furthermore, ARMS has shown to be superior in a number of other performance metrics.