Towards Self-Organizing Distributed Computing Frameworks: The H2O Approach

A novel component-based, service-oriented framework for distributed metacomputing is described. Adopting a provider-centric view of resource sharing, this framework emphasizes lightweight software infrastructures that maintain minimal state, and interface to current and emerging distributed computing standards. In this model, resource owners host a software backplane onto which owners, clients, or third-party resellers may load components or componentsuites that deliver value added services without compromising owner security or control. Standardsbased descriptions of services facilitate publication and discovery via established schemes. The architecture of the container framework, design of components, security and access control schemes, and preliminary experiences are described in this paper.