Theory and Practice of Object Systems · 1997 · 121 citations · 0 references
ComputingComputer ScienceComputer SystemsDistributed SystemsFault ToleranceFault-tolerant SystemsDistributed ComputingDistributed Systems ArchitectureFault-tolerant CommunicationHigh AvailabilityReliable Distributed SystemsReliable System DesignAbstractionCommunication DelaysFault Tolerance MechanismsFault-tolerant CoordinationFault-tolerant Distributed SystemsHigh-availability SystemsObject Request Broker Architecture
Large‑scale distributed applications must cope with unpredictable delays, partial failures, and network partitions, yet CORBA lacks support for group communication and reliable, fault‑tolerant behavior. The article proposes extensions to CORBA that add group communication, reliability, and fault tolerance. The extensions are implemented in Orbix+Isis and Electra, two CORBA ORBs that enable reliable distributed applications and groupware. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
New classes of large-scale distributed applications will have to deal with unpredictable communication delays, with partial failures, and with networks that partition. In addition, sophisticated applications such as teleconferencing, video-on-demand, and concurrent software engineering require a group communication abstraction. These paradigms are not adequately addressed by CORBA. CORBA mainly deals with point-to-point communication and offers no support for the development of reliable applications that exhibit predictable behavior in distributed systems. In this article, we present extensions to CORBA which provide group communication, reliability, and fault tolerance. We also describe Orbix+Isis and Electra—two CORBA object request brokers that support the implementation of reliable distributed applications and groupware. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.