Message passing on a local network

This thesis focuses on understanding the cost of transparent interprocess communication in a distributed system consisting of a set of machines connected by a local network. Interprocess communication is transparent if processes can communicate without regard to physical host boundaries. Transparent interprocess communication is a very powerful tool because it allows us to view the collection of different machines as a single, logically unified computer system. We concentrate on the efficiency aspects of transparent interprocess communication on a local network. In order to obtain experimental evidence, a transparent message-passing mechanism has been implemented as part of the distributed V kernel. This message-passing mechanism has been used as the basis for various distributed applications. In particular, it has been used extensively for providing transparent file access from diskless workstations to a set of network-based file servers. Based in part on experience gained from the implementation and use of the distributed V kernel, this thesis presents four contributions: (1) An empirical evaluation of high-performance message passing on a local network, (2) A queueing network model of file access from diskless workstations over a local area network to a set of file servers, (3) An analysis of the protocol used to support the V interprocess communication on a broadcast network, and (4) The integration of the broadcast and multicast capabilities of local area networks into message-based interprocess communication.