A case for NOW (Networks of Workstations)

Author

Anderson, Thomas E. ; Culler, David E. ; Patterson, David A.

Author_Institution

California Univ., Berkeley, CA, USA

Volume

15

Issue

1

fYear

1995

fDate

2/1/1995 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

54

Lastpage

64

Abstract

Networks of workstations are poised to become the primary computing infrastructure for science and engineering. NOWs may dramatically improve virtual memory and file system performance; achieve cheap, highly available, and scalable file storage: and provide multiple CPUs for parallel computing. Hurdles that remain include efficient communication hardware and software, global coordination of multiple workstation operating systems, and enterprise-scale network file systems. Our 100-node NOW prototype aims to demonstrate practical solutions to these challenges

Keywords

computer networks; local area networks; network operating systems; operating systems (computers); workstations; efficient communication hardware; efficient communication software; enterprise-scale network file systems; file system performance; multiple workstation operating systems; parallel computing; scalable file storage; virtual memory; workstation networks; Communication system software; Computer networks; Design engineering; File systems; Hardware; Operating systems; Parallel processing; Prototypes; Software prototyping; Workstations;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Micro, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0272-1732

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/40.342018

Filename

342018