The Cronus distributed operating system

Abstract : This report contains the preliminary system/subsystem specification for the Cronus Distributed Operating System. It also reports progress in the development of the underlying support system components, the measurement of local network performance, and the structuring of system messages. The object of this project is to define, design, implement and test an Advanced Development Model for a distributed operating system. The DOS controls the interactions among collections of computers interconnected via high-speed local area network technology. The overall function of the DOS is to integrate the various data processing subsystems into a coherent, responsive and reliable system. The system is to include the following functions: system monitoring, reliability and survivability, access control and authentication, and a uniform command language. In addition, the system is to provide support for the following system services: uniform file system, electronic mail message distribution, data translation, and interactive access to remote programs.