Group orientation: a paradigm for distributed systems of the nineties

Increasing use of distributed systems, with the corresponding decentralization of activities, stimulates the need for structuring those activities around groups of participants, for reasons of consistency, user-friendliness, performance and dependability. Two very diverse fields illustrate this trend: computer supported cooperative group working; distributed computer control. This paper discusses ways for structuring systems and defining building blocks for group-oriented activity. It is felt that efficient abstractions for the design of highly distributed applications should be structured around concepts like object groups. Furthermore, the group concept should pervade the whole architecture, from network multicasting, to group communications and management, and fundamental synchronisation paradigms. Emerging technology will help materialize these concepts.<>