Configuring distributed applications using object decomposition in an atomic action environment

A common technique for constructing reliable distributed applications is to use atomic actions for controlling operations on persistent objects. Atomic actions are used to ensure that inconsistencies in application state do not arise when failures occur or when concurrent activities operate on shared objects. Within such an application, objects provide a convenient unit for distribution and concurrency-control. The properties of atomic actions and objects can be exploited together to configure distributed applications, without affecting the correct functioning of the application. This leads to the possibility of changing the configuration of concurrency and distribution of the distributed application to improve availability and performance. These changes in concurrency and distribution can be achieved by varying the object decomposition within the application. The authors show how some kinds of reconfiguration can be achieved without any modification to client applications. The observations are a result of constructing reliable distributed applications using the Arjuna system, which provides tools and libraries for programming with atomic actions and persistent objects in C++