Remote evaluation

Abstract

A new technique for computer-to-computer communication is presented that can increase the performance of distributed systems. This technique, called remote evaluation, lets one computer send another computer a request in the form of a program. A computer that receives such a request executes the program in the request and returns the results to the sending computer. Remote evaluation provides a new degree of flexibility in the design of distributed systems. In present distributed systems that use remote procedure calls, server computers are designed to offer a fixed set of services. In a system that uses remote evaluation, server computers are more properly viewed as programmable processors. One consequence of this flexibility is that remote evaluation can reduce the amount of communication that is required to accomplish a given task. In this paper we discuss the semantics of remote evaluation and its effect on distributed system design. We also summarize our experience with a prototype implementation.