Reliable distributed shared memory

Some aspects of research into distributed shared memory (DSM) systems which concern reliability are presented. The research is concerned with applications that use shared memory in single-site systems, and their extension to operation in a distributed environment. A DSM system consists of a shared address space that is accessed by logical operations. In the author's model processes create shared memory by using a segment; the segment's size, name, and access protection are defined when the memory is created. Processes locate and attach the segment into their virtual memory address space by name. When a process is finished with the segment, it may be detached. The last detach of a segment destroys the data. The shared portion of a process's address space is partitioned into data pages, which are replicated. System implementation, distributed architecture, and issues affecting DSM reliability are discussed.<>