Design and implementation of a distributed semaphore facility

Abstract

This paper describes a distributed semaphore facility called DISEM. DISEM supports semaphore mechanism in a distributed workstations environment, it is implemented at the application level for workstations running a version or a derivative of UNIX operating system which support BSD sockets and System V IPCs. In addition, DISEM also provides fault tolerant service in case a workstation crashes. Generally speaking, DISEM is a useful and portable facility for supporting of distributed semaphore in a local network of workstations.<>