Interworking in a heterogeneous environment

The authors introduce the components which are necessary to extend a communication subsystem to a comprehensive support system for distributed processing in a heterogeneous multivendor environment. Major components are services for distributed invocation, for directors, and for security. Known solutions are discussed, and some open problems are identified. Particular attention is given to the distributed academic computing network operating system (DACNOS), a comprehensive architecture and implementation of a support environment for distributed applications in a heterogeneous environment. The main goal of DACNOS was the development of a systematic approach to resource sharing and distributed processing in a heterogeneous environment. Users can access remote files, databases, programs, and other resources from within their local environment. Without learning alien interfaces, users can share information and resources with the users of different operating systems. DACNOS is a running prototype supporting real applications.<>