A framework for distributed system designs

Abstract

We present a framework to structure the space of designs for a class of distributed systems. The purpose of this framework is to codify known design knowledge, and thus, when given the task of developing a new system in this class, to facilitate: navigation-finding designs applicable to the task; evaluation-identifying the strengths of weaknesses of a given design comparing alternative designs; and reification-realizing an abstract design as the solution to a concrete task. This is illustrated on the class of resource control systems operating in a distributed setting.<>