AN OPERATING SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE FOR NETWORKED SERVER INFRASTRUCTURE

Collections of hardware components are the foundation of computation and consist of interconnec-tions of different types of the same core elements: processors, disks, memory cards, I/O devices, and network links. Designing a system for managing collections of hardware is challenging because modern infrastructures (i) distribute resource control across multiple autonomous sites, (ii) operate diverse sets of hardware, and (iii) support a variety of programming models for developing and executing software services. An operating system is a software layer that manages hardware by coordinating its interaction with software. This thesis defines and evaluates an architecture for a networked operating system that manages collections of hardware in infrastructures spread across networks, such as the Internet. The foundation of a networked operating system determines how software services share a common hardware platform. A fundamental property common to all forms of resource sharing is that software services, by definition, share hardware components and do not use them forever. A lease is a natural construct for restricting the use of a shared resource to a well-defined length of time. Our architecture employs a general neutrality principle, which states that a networked operatin