The NetWork Project: Asynchronous Distributed Computing on Personal Workstations

NetWork is an experiment in distributed computing. The idea is to make use of idle time on personal workstations while retaining their advantages of immediate and guarantied availability. NetWork wants to make use of otherwise idle resources only. The performance criterion of NetWork is the net work done per unit time not computing time or other measures of resource utilization. The NetWork model provides corresponding programming primitives for distributed computing. An implementation of a distributed asynchronous neural net serves as test application. Computing in an Asynchronous Distributed Environment ................................... 1 An Example: Neural Nets...................................................................................... 2 Design Goals ......................................................................................................... 4 Principles of Operation and NetWork Layers ....................................................... 5 NetWork Scheduling Strategy ............................................................................... 7 Components of the NetWork Model ..................................................................... 8 Idle Time Distribution and Economy of Recruitments ......................................... 9 NetWork Communications: Economy and Flexibility ........................................ 11 Implementation Environment and Experiences with NetWork .......................... 13 Looking Ahead .................................................................................................... 14 Literature ............................................................................................................. 15 How to Access NetWork ..................................................................................... 16 Biographical Note & Additional Information ..................................................... 16