Showing papers on "Shared resource published in 2001"

The Anatomy of the Grid: Enabling Scalable Virtual Organizations

Abstract: "Grid" computing has emerged as an important new field, distinguished from conventional distributed computing by its focus on large-scale resource sharing, innovative applications, and, in some cases, high performance orientation. In this article, the authors define this new field. First, they review the "Grid problem," which is defined as flexible, secure, coordinated resource sharing among dynamic collections of individuals, institutions, and resources--what is referred to as virtual organizations. In such settings, unique authentication, authorization, resource access, resource discovery, and other challenges are encountered. It is this class of problem that is addressed by Grid technologies. Next, the authors present an extensible and open Grid architecture, in which protocols, services, application programming interfaces, and software development kits are categorized according to their roles in enabling resource sharing. The authors describe requirements that they believe any such mechanisms must satisfy and discuss the importance of defining a compact set of intergrid protocols to enable interoperability among different Grid systems. Finally, the authors discuss how Grid technologies relate to other contemporary technologies, including enterprise integration, application service provider, storage service provider, and peer-to-peer computing. They maintain that Grid concepts and technologies complement and have much to contribute to these other approaches.

The Anatomy of the Grid - Enabling Scalable Virtual Organizations

Abstract: "Grid" computing has emerged as an important new field, distinguished from conventional distributed computing by its focus on large-scale resource sharing, innovative applications, and, in some cases, high-performance orientation. In this article, we define this new field. First, we review the "Grid problem," which we define as flexible, secure, coordinated resource sharing among dynamic collections of individuals, institutions, and resources-what we refer to as virtual organizations. In such settings, we encounter unique authentication, authorization, resource access, resource discovery, and other challenges. It is this class of problem that is addressed by Grid technologies. Next, we present an extensible and open Grid architecture, in which protocols, services, application programming interfaces, and software development kits are categorized according to their roles in enabling resource sharing. We describe requirements that we believe any such mechanisms must satisfy, and we discuss the central role played by the intergrid protocols that enable interoperability among different Grid systems. Finally, we discuss how Grid technologies relate to other contemporary technologies, including enterprise integration, application service provider, storage service provider, and peer-to-peer computing. We maintain that Grid concepts and technologies complement and have much to contribute to these other approaches.

Grid information services for distributed resource sharing

Abstract: Grid technologies enable large-scale sharing of resources within formal or informal consortia of individuals and/or institutions: what are sometimes called virtual organizations. In these settings, the discovery, characterization, and monitoring of resources, services, and computations are challenging problems due to the considerable diversity; large numbers, dynamic behavior, and geographical distribution of the entities in which a user might be interested. Consequently, information services are a vital part of any Grid software infrastructure, providing fundamental mechanisms for discovery and monitoring, and hence for planning and adapting application behavior. We present an information services architecture that addresses performance, security, scalability, and robustness requirements. Our architecture defines simple low-level enquiry and registration protocols that make it easy to incorporate individual entities into various information structures, such as aggregate directories that support a variety of different query languages and discovery strategies. These protocols can also be combined with other Grid protocols to construct additional higher-level services and capabilities such as brokering, monitoring, fault detection, and troubleshooting. Our architecture has been implemented as MDS-2, which forms part of the Globus Grid toolkit and has been widely deployed and applied.

Service discovery in DEAPspace

Abstract: The DEAPspace group at IBM Research, Zurich Lab is developing a system in which services can be shared between proximate devices. The target environment is single-hop short-range wireless systems, and the solution must offer prompt responsiveness for transient devices. In this article, the service discovery algorithm is presented. Through this new algorithm, a computing device can detect the presence of neighboring devices, share configuration and service information with those devices, and also notice when devices become unavailable. Targeted for wireless ad hoc single-hop networks, this solution improves the responsiveness of devices to changes in their environments. The effectiveness of this algorithm is demonstrated through comparison with others that achieve similar goals, considering the responsiveness to changes in the local environment, power consumption, and bandwidth requirement of devices.

Resource sharing on the internet via the http

Abstract: A method and apparatus for sharing resources in a network environment. Typically, a computer linked to the Internet may have resources or may provide services, that are usable by other computers. A user, using one or more embodiments of the invention, can access those resources or services as if they were locally situated. An application running on a client can access a resource on a remote computer by submitting a request via an Internet browser. The request is analyzed, converted to proper format and is transferred over the network lines to a server that can satisfy the request. For security reasons, an application may not be authorized to submit a request directly to a server on the Internet. For example, limitations have been implemented that prohibit a requesting application from obtaining access to resources of a server computer unless that application is a trusted application. If a requesting application has a trusted status, then its request for connecting to the server is granted. If a request submitted by an application to a server is denied, then a server that entrusts the application is identified, and the request is submitted to that server. A program code called a “servlet” is implemented on that server to accept the requests submitted by a trusted application. The submitted requests are analyzed by the servlet and are forwarded to a resource server that can satisfy the requests. A response from the resource server is routed through the servlet back to the requesting application.

Interactive printing with a plurality of printer devices

Abstract: A network system for printing digital print files, including personal workstations of users and a plurality of printers. The system further includes a print service and a print file storage service, that may be implemented in several ways. A user may submit a print file without specifying a particular printer on which the file must be printed. Then, he can walk up to any of the printers and start the print process for his print file there. In operation, the print service receives the print file, extracts metadata specifying job information from the file, and stores the file in the print file storage service. The metadata of the file are transmitted to the printers, which include the metadata in local print selection mechanisms resident in said printers. The user may select his print file at the operating panel of any one of the printers and start the printing process. In response, that printer fetches the print image data of the selected file from the print file storage service and prints the file.

Method and system for third party resource provisioning management

Abstract: A method and system of provisioning resources from a central location via a third party resource provisioning management (RPM) service provider. Various levels of provisioning may be obtained. Organizations may obtain resource provisioning from a third party RPM resource provider using a third party server. At an affiliate level, various resource vendors may be part of a resource exchange, sharing resources with other affiliates within the exchange. At a public provisioning infrastructure level, an individual organization may obtain access to resources within the infrastructure, subject to receipt of a provisioning ticket and appropriate identity authentication.

Congestion control mechanisms and the best effort service model

Abstract: In the last few years there has been considerable research toward extending the Internet architecture to provide quality of service guarantees for the emerging real-time multimedia applications. QoS provision is a rather controversial endeavour. At one end of the spectrum there were proposals for reservations and per-flow state in the routers. These models did not flourish due to the network's heterogeneity the complexity of the mechanisms involved, and scalability problems. At the other end, proposals advocating that an overprovisioned best effort network will solve all the problems are not quite convincing either. The authors believe that more control is clearly needed for protecting best effort service. An important requirement is to prevent congestion collapse, keep congestion levels low, and guarantee fairness. Appropriate control structures in a best effort service network could even be used for introducing differentiation. This could be achieved without sacrificing the best effort nature of the Internet or stressing its architecture beyond its limits and original design principles. We revisit the best effort service model and the problem of congestion while focusing on the importance of cooperative resource sharing to the Internet's success, and review the congestion control principles and mechanisms which facilitate Internet resource sharing.

Peer-to-peer file sharing system and method using user datagram protocol

Abstract: A network-based file-sharing system includes a first host computer and a plurality of other host computers, each host computer having a processing unit and a storage. The first host computer is programmed to generate from the plurality of other host computers a list of other host computers where a user-selected file is stored. The first host computer is further programmed to select a second host computer from the list of other host computers based on an indication of a transfer time from the second host computer to the first host computer and to retrieve at least a portion of the particular file from the second host computer using User Datagram Protocol data packets. Files may be shared over a wide-area network by connecting a plurality of hosts over the wide-area network; coupling a registry server independent of the hosts to the wide-area network for maintaining a registry containing, for each of a plurality of files, a message digest uniquely identifying the file and an indication of restriction status of the file; and providing a first host having a processing unit, a storage, and a first set of machine instructions storable in the storage and executable by the processing unit for retrieving a user-selected file from at least one of the hosts coupled to the first host via the wide-area network. Access to the file by the first host from the plurality of hosts is based on the indication in the registry of restriction status of the user-selected file.

Network resource sharing during handover of a mobile station between cellular wireless networks

Abstract: System components of cellular wireless networks are shared during and after a mobile station handover from a first cellular wireless network (system A) to a second cellular wireless network (system B). According to one aspect, layer 2/3 call control functions are anchored in a base station controller (BSC) of system A, even after a data communication is handed over from system A to system B. According to another aspect, a link layer supporting the data communication is anchored in the BSC of system A servicing the data communication. In this case, the BSC of system A interfaces with a serving BTS of system B to service the ongoing data communication. According to still another aspect, the link layer is handed over to system B but the link layer of system B continues to use a link layer transmit buffer of system A that remains in the servicing BSC of system A.

Economic models for management of resources in peer-to-peer and grid computing

Abstract: The accelerated development in Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and Grid computing has positioned them as promising next generation computing platforms. They enable the creation of Virtual Enterprises (VE) for sharing resources distributed across the world. However, resource management, application development and usage models in these environments is a complex undertaking. This is due to the geographic distribution of resources that are owned by different organizations or peers. The resource owners of each of these resources have different usage or access policies and cost models, and varying loads and availability. In order to address complex resource management issues, we have proposed a computational economy framework for resource allocation and for regulating supply and demand in Grid computing environments. The framework provides mechanisms for optimizing resource provider and consumer objective functions through trading and brokering services. In a real world market, there exist various economic models for setting the price for goods based on supply-and-demand and their value to the user. They include commodity market, posted price, tenders and auctions. In this paper, we discuss the use of these models for interaction between Grid components in deciding resource value and the necessary infrastructure to realize them. In addition to normal services offered by Grid computing systems, we need an infrastructure to support interaction protocols, allocation mechanisms, currency, secure banking, and enforcement services. Furthermore, we demonstrate the usage of some of these economic models in resource brokering through Nimrod/G deadline and cost-based scheduling for two different optimization strategies on the World Wide Grid (WWG) testbed that contains peer-to-peer resources located on five continents: Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.

Enabling Scalable Virtual Organizations

Abstract: “Grid” computing has emerged as an important new field, distinguished from conventional distributed computing by its focus on large-scale resource sharing, innovative applications, and, in some cases, high-performance orientation. In this article, we define this new field. First, we review the “Grid problem,” which we define as flexible, secure, coordinated resource sharing among dynamic collections of individuals, institutions, and resources—what we refer to as virtual organizations. In such settings, we encounter unique authentication, authorization, resource access, resource discovery, and other challenges. It is this class of problem that is addressed by Grid technologies. Next, we present an extensible and open Grid architecture ,i n which protocols, services, application programming interfaces, and software development kits are categorized according to their roles in enabling resource sharing. We describe requirements that we believe any such mechanisms must satisfy and we discuss the importance of defining a compact set of intergrid protocols to enable interoperability among different Grid systems. Finally, we discuss how Grid technologies relate to other contemporary technologies, including enterprise integration, application service provider, storage service provider, and peer-to-peer computing. We maintain that Grid concepts and technologies complement and have much to contribute to these other approaches.

Method and system of remote diagnostic, control and information collection using a shared resource

Abstract: A system, method and program product for diagnosing, controlling and collecting information from devices. Information regarding events of a target application executing in an application unit is collected and formatted into one of multiple data formats for transmission through one of multiple communication protocols using at least one shared system resource. The formatted data is transmitted through, e.g., e-mail or FTP to a predetermined destination or may be saved to local storage, e.g., a local disk. By sharing resources, code duplication is reduced or eliminated.

Distributive access controller

Abstract: A device for securely controlling communications among or within computers, computer systems, or computer networks, comprising: (a) a primary access port to which an “owner” computer program, computer, computer system, or computer network is connectable to access shared computer resources; (b) a secondary access port to which a non-owner computer program, computer, computer system, or computer network is connectable to access the shared computer resources; (c) a transfer port to which a shared computer resource is connectable to provide controlled access to that computer resource from computer programs, computers, computer systems, or computer networks connected to the access ports; and (d) a separate physical communication path to and from each access port and each transfer port, where access permissions and restrictions for each communication path are set by the owner of the device through the primary access port.

Network resource control system

Abstract: A network resource control system allows network terminals to communicate with network resources, and includes a resource registry, an authorization server and an administration server. The resource registry includes resource records which are associated with the network resources and define at least a user access level for each network resource. The authorization server is in communication with the resource registry and controls network access to the network resources in accordance with the resource records. The administration server is in communication with the resource registry and provides controlled access to the resource records. The administration server receives user access control data from administrators of the network resources for incorporation into the resource records. Depending upon the user access control data received, the authorization server configures the network terminals for communication with the network resources.

Optimal repetitive scheduling model with shareable resource constraint

Abstract: An optimal repetitive scheduling model for precast production with the consideration of resource constraints and resource sharing is proposed in this paper. A repetitive schedule, like precast production, needs to take into consideration the impact of limited resources, including equipment (such as cranes, forms, and steaming curing facilities) and skilled labor, on production makespan. Moreover, to economically and effectively utilize these valuable resources (such as cranes and work crews), it is worth taking resource sharing into consideration in precast production. A genetic algorithm-based searching technique is adopted to establish an optimal resource-constrained repetitive precast production scheduling system with the consideration of resource sharing. The system can effectively provide the optimal or near-optimal combination of production durations, resource amounts, and minimum makespan under the constraint of limited resources and with the consideration of resource sharing.

Resource sharing with sliding constraints

Abstract: The resource sharing system according to the present invention dynamically adjusts the priorities at which requests from applications in different request classes (or classes of service) for a shared resource, are processed. The dynamic priority of a request class is based in part on the average resource allocation to requests in this request class, and in part on settings for the minimum and maximum allocations to the request class. The average resource allocation is the proportion of time the shared resource has been assigned to requests of this class relative to other classes. The dynamic adjustment of priorities uses “sliding constraints” whereby the priorities are caused to “slide” with the average resource allocation, and the priority imposes a constraint on when the requests of a resource class can be satisfied: namely, when there are no other requests from higher-priority request classes waiting for the resource.

System and method for secure and verified sharing of resources in a peer-to-peer network environment

Abstract: A system and method for secure and verified sharing of resources in a peer-to-peer network environment to facilitate efficient use of bandwidth are disclosed The method for securely sharing resources over a peer-to-peer network generally comprises broadcasting a request by a requesting peer for a resource over the peer-to-peer network where the resource is identified with a resource version identifier, receiving a response from a responding peer on the peer-to-peer network indicating that the responding peer has the requested resource, retrieving the requested resource from the responding peer, and verifying the retrieved resource by ensuring the retrieved resource contains the version identifier embedded therein Preferably, the verifying also includes verifying a digital signature, such as a 1024-bit VeriSign digital certificate, of the retrieved resource to ensure integrity of the retrieved resource

Multi-version hosting of application services

Abstract: An application service provision apparatus is provided with one or more components to perform a dispatching and a shared resource monitoring function to allow applications be hosted with multiple versions of a hosting service runtime library in a more efficient manner The dispatching function, upon receipt of a request for service for an application, determines if the version of the runtime library required is known If not, the dispatching function turns to the latest version of the runtime library to determine the version required In one embodiment, the required earlier versions are loaded only on an as needed basis The shared resource monitoring function, upon detecting aggregated allocation of a shared resource reaching a pre-determined threshold, requests consumers of the shared resource to provide tracked last used times of their allocations In response, the monitoring function selects a number of the allocations for release, and instructed the shared resource consumers accordingly

Workload management method to enhance shared resource access in a multisystem environment

Abstract: A technique is disclosed for managing a workload distributed across multiple data processing systems to enhance shared resource access to meet a common performance standard. The technique includes on at least one system, measuring performance of the work units on the system to create local performance data, and on at least some of the systems sending the local performance data to at least one other system of the multiple data processing systems. The method further includes on at least one of the systems, receiving the performance data from the sending systems to create remote performance data, and adjusting at least one control parameter for accessing shared resources in response to the local and remote performance data to modify the performance of the work units distributed across the data processing systems to achieve the common performance standard. A dynamic resource clustering process is also employed to enhance the shared resource management.

Towards compositionality in real-time resource partitioning based on regularity bounds

Abstract: In real-time resource partitioning, a shared resource is partitioned by a resource-level scheduler such that each partition is accessible only by an individual application task group. Tasks within the same task group are scheduled by an application-task-level scheduler that is specialized to the real-time requirements of the tasks in the group. An ideal goal for resource partitioning in real-time systems is to achieve a complete separation of concerns so that: (1) each task group may be executed as if it had access to its own dedicated resource, and (2) there is minimal interaction between the resource-level scheduler and the application-task-level scheduler. In [15], we introduced the notion of a real-time virtual resource which operates at a fraction of the rate of the shared physical resource and whose rate of operation varies with time but is bounded. In this paper we discuss an approach to bound the variation of the rate of operation of a real-time virtual resource by characterizing the rate variation from both temporal and supply dimensions and by expanding on the concept of regularity that was first introduced in [19]. For the case of regular resource partitioning, we show that the utilization bounds of both fixed-priority scheduling and dynamic-priority scheduling remain unchanged from those for dedicated resources. We determine the utilization bounds for the more general case of irregular partitioning. In particular, both types of partitions can be efficiently constructed by exploiting compositionality, properties vis-a-vis the regularity measure.

Congestion pricing. Paying your way in communication networks

Abstract: Network congestion is a fundamental problem facing Internet users today. A network where users are selfish, and thus reluctant to defer to other users, may result in the famous "tragedy of the commons", where, in the absence of controls, a shared resource is overconsumed by individuals who consider only their personal costs and not the cost to society as a whole. In terms of the Internet, the "tragedy" could be viewed as congestive collapse, resulting from overconsumption of the shared network resource. It is important to distinguish congestion pricing from other forms of network pricing. Charging network users for the congestion they cause can lead to more efficient network utilization by forcing them to take social costs into account. In a congestion-pricing framework, the congestion charge would replace usage and QoS charges. Users would pay their ISPs a subscription charge to cover fixed costs and a congestion charge only when appropriate. This pricing scheme is feasible because, in the absence of congestion, the marginal cost of a network link is practically zero. Congestion pricing can also benefit network operators. By indicating the level of congestion and the user tolerance of it in their networks, congestion pricing can inform operators about when to re-provision and increase network capacity.

Resource sharing in reservation-based systems

Abstract: The resource-sharing problem in priority-driven realtime systems has been studied at length, with the result that some effective and practical solutions are available for both fixed-priority and dynamic-priority systems. In recent years, real-time operating systems have begun to support the resource reservation paradigm, providing a "temporal isolation" abstraction. However the problem of sharing logical resources across reserved applications has not been extensively studied. In this paper we consider both the theoretical and practical implications of such resource-sharing in reservation-based systems. Moreover we provide some experimental results from the implementation of our proposed schemes in Linux/RK, a "resource kernel" that supports reservations.

Method and system for optimizing private network file transfers in a public peer-to-peer network

Abstract: A method and system for optimizing private network file transfers in a public peer-to-peer network. The network includes a plurality of nodes wherein at least two of the nodes are part of the private network. The method and system include receiving a search request from a first node for a file, and in response, determining that the file is stored on a second node. It is then determined whether the first and second nodes are part of the same private network, and if so, the second node is used to transfer the file to the first node over the private network, instead of the public network.

An Architecture for Scalable and Manageable File Services

Abstract: Monolithic file servers are limited by the power of an individual system. Cluster file servers are limited by resource sharing and recovery issues as the number of cluster nodes increases. DiFFS is a file service architecture that allows system resources to be added (or removed) dynamically, e.g., storage and processors. Resources are partitioned in such a way that contention is avoided, while maintaining a single namespace. Resources may be heterogeneous, and geographically dispersed. This architecture has several advantages. A file’s physical location is decoupled from its location in the namespace. This decoupling enables a powerful and flexible mechanism for the placement of file system objects. For example, different types of files, e.g., text or video, may reside anywhere in the namespace while being hosted by servers best suited to handling their content type. DiFFS also provides lightweight protocols for online dynamic reconfiguration (volume reassignment and object migration) to address fluctuating demand and potentially mobile file system entities. A DiFFS prototype has been implemented in Linux. Performance results indicate that the architecture achieves its flexibility and scalability goals without sacrificing performance.

Network architecture for mobile communication network with billing module for shared resources

Abstract: A mobile communication network includes an antenna site shared by two or more telecommunications service providers The antenna site includes a shared resource, such as an antenna, telecommunications equipment, or bandwidth, used by multiple service providers and connects to multiple signal processing centers, each of which belongs to one of the service providers The signal processing centers may provide modulating signals to the antenna site to use in modulating a carrier The antenna site may also direct received signals from mobile terminals to the signal processing center for the appropriate service provider A billing module at the antenna site maintains an accounting of resources used by each service provider

Method and system for enabling resource sharing in a communication network having a plurality of application environments

Abstract: A method for enabling resource sharing in a communication network supporting a plurality of application environments. Specifically, one embodiment of the present invention discloses a method ensuring only sufficient computational resources are used by a multi-component system as needed to meet its service level objectives. A method is disclosed wherein quality of service is monitored at each component in a multi-component application environment. A metric characterizes quality of service for each component. The method determines whether the quality of service at each component meets an associated service level objective. The method then optimizes the number of computational resources in each of components in the application environment to satisfy service level objectives.

Method for effective utilizing of shared resources in computerized system

Abstract: A method for utilizing shared resources in a computerized system, where commands are processed by a processor and executed by one or more of the shared resources, the method comprises steps: a) deriving, from each of the commands, subcommands respectively related to the one or more shared resources, b) assigning priorities to the subcommands, c) forwarding the subcommands to one or more queues of the respective one or more shared resources, so that each of the queues comprises the subcommands related to a particular shared resource Each of the shared resources is thereby able to execute the subcommands from the queues in the asynchronous manner and according to their priorities

The resource sharing system: dynamic federate mapping for HLA-based distributed simulation

Abstract: Networks of workstations have become a popular architecture for distributed simulation due to their high availability as opposed to specialized multiprocessor computers. Networks of workstations are also a well-suited framework for distributed simulation systems based on the High Level Architecture (HLA). However, using workstations in a distributed simulation system may eventually effect the availability of computing resources for the users who need their computers as working tools. Thus, for coarse grained distributed simulation it may be desirable to let the users control to what extent their workstations should participate in a distributed simulation. In this paper, we present a resource sharing system (RSS) that provides a client user interface on each potentially participating workstation. With the RSS clients, users of workstations can control the availability of their computer for the HLA simulation federation. An RSS manager keeps track of available computing resources and balances the participating HLA federates among the available workstations.

Network-based document delivery system with receipt and display verification

Abstract: A document delivery system transmits a document file from a sender computer to a server computer. The server computer then stores the document file at a particular network address, sends a message to the receiver computer indicating the network address of the document file, and later forwards the document file to the receiver computer when the receiver computer requests the document file at that network address. Viewer software running on the receiver computer processes the received document file to produce a display of the document it describes after which the viewer software returns data to the server computer indicating that it successfully displayed the document. The server computer logs a record of the successful receipt and display of the document and makes that record accessible to the sender computer. If the viewer is unable to successfully display the document, it does not return the indicating data to the server.