A kernel-level DSVM controller for the diskless cluster system

Investigates the distributed shared virtual memory (DSVM) technique in a distributed diskless PC cluster system environment. By integrating distributed shared memory (DSM) and virtual memory functions, the DSVM model not only supports the sharing of process space but also provides the sharing of system-supported space (e.g. swapping area). DSVM controllers are handlers in a diskless PC cluster system whose responsibility is to control the operations of DSM and to handle the sharing when the local physical memory needs to do page/process swap-in and out. This paper presents the model, describes the requirements and how the model supports the diskless PC in a diskless PC cluster system, discusses several design issues, and narrates prototype implementation details and considerations. The developed primitives of this prototype are the base of a complete DSVM mechanism and process migration. Integrating the two mechanisms will promote the system to be a powerful group computing platform.