A Distributed JAVA SPACE Implementation for HARNESS

Abstract H arness is an experimental metacomputing system based upon the principle of dynamically reconfigurable, object-oriented, networked computing frameworks. H arness supports reconfiguration not only in terms of the computers and networks that comprise the virtual machine, but also in the capabilities of the VM itself. These characteristics allow the construction of modular programming environments that can be plugged into the H arness system on demand. As a proof of concept exercise, and also with an intent to provide a flexible coordination facility for the H arness system, Sun's J ava S pace interface was implemented as a H arness plug-in. The J ava S paces model is part of the J ava distributed computing effort and is essentially an object-oriented tuple-space. J ava S paces technology is a simple unified mechanism for dynamic communication, coordination, and sharing of objects between J ava technology-based network resources. This paper introduces the H arness system and discusses design, implementation, and preliminary experiences with the J ava S pace for H arness .