Brief Announcement: An Analysis Framework for Distributed Hierarchical Directories

Distributed hierarchical directories are data structures that enable one to access shared objects whenever needed. These directories are used to implement fundamental coordination problems in distributed systems, including distributed transactional memory [4,5], distributed queues [2], and mobile object tracking [1]. These directories support access to the shared objects in a network through three basic operations: (i) publish, allowing a shared object to be inserted in the directory so that other nodes can find it; (ii) lookup, providing a read-only copy of the object to the requesting node; and (iii) move, allowing the requesting node to write the object locally after getting it.