The Role of Order in Distributed Programs

Abstract

This document discusses the role of order in building distributed systems. It is our belief that a principle of event ordering underlies the wide range of operating systems mechanisms that have been put forward for building robust distributed software. Stated concisely, this principle is that one achieves correct distributed behavior by ordering classes of distributed events that conflict with one another. By focusing on order, one can obtain simplified descriptions and convincingly correct solutions to problems that might otherwise have looked extremely complex. Moreover, we observe that there are a limited number of ways to obtain order, and that the choice made impacts greatly on performance.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1989
Accession Number
ADA206037

Entities

People

  • Keith Marzullo
  • Ken Birman

Organizations

  • Cornell University

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  • Abstracts
  • Agreements
  • Algorithms
  • Application Software
  • Availability
  • Computations
  • Computer Programs
  • Computer Science
  • Computers
  • Damage Detection
  • Detection
  • Distributed Computing
  • Language
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  • Operating Systems
  • Resource Management
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  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Statistical inference.
  • Systems Analysis and Design