Abstract: A multi-tiered server management architecture is employed including an application development tier, an application operations tier, and a cluster operations tier. In the application development tier, applications are developed for execution on one or more server computers. In the application operations tier, execution of the applications is managed and sub-boundaries within a cluster of servers can be established. In the cluster operations tier, operation of the server computers is managed without concern for what applications are executing on the one or more server computers and boundaries between clusters of servers can be established. The multi-tiered server management architecture can also be employed in co-location facilities where clusters of servers are leased to tenants, with the tenants implementing the application operations tier and the facility owner (or operator) implementing the cluster operations tier.

Abstract: A multi-tiered server management architecture is employed including an application development tier, an application operations tier, and a cluster operations tier. In the application development tier, applications are developed for execution on one or more server computers. In the application operations tier, execution of the applications is managed and sub-boundaries within a cluster of servers can be established. In the cluster operations tier, operation of the server computers is managed without concern for what applications are executing on the one or more server computers and boundaries between clusters of servers can be established. The multi-tiered server management architecture can also be employed in co-location facilities where clusters of servers are leased to tenants, with the tenants implementing the application operations tier and the facility owner (or operator) implementing the cluster operations tier.

Abstract: A method for improving the performance of a distributed object model over a network is disclosed. A client computer contains a client object which can call an interface on a server object located on a server computer. Rather than copying all of the call parameters into an RPC buffer for transmission across the network, a network interface card with scatter-gather capability can be used. The RPC data can contain only a list of pointers into the client memory and a size of each parameter. The network interface card can then grab the parameters directly from the client memory using the list in the RPC buffer without the need to copy the data itself. At the server side, the network interface card can place the parameters into an RPC buffer, or if the size is known beforehand, directly into the server memory. The server can also access the parameters directly from the RPC buffer.

Abstract: Methods of factoring operating system functions into one or more groups of functions are described. Factorization permits operating systems that are not configured to support computing in an object-oriented environment to be used in an object oriented environment. This promotes distributed computing by enabling operating system resources to be instantiated and used across process and machine boundaries. In one embodiment, criteria are defined that govern how functions of an operating system are to be factored into one or more groups. Based on the defined criteria, the functions are factors into groups and groups of functions are then associated with programming objects that have data and methods, wherein the methods correspond to the operating system functions. Applications can call methods on the programming objects either directly or indirectly that, in turn, call operating system functions.

Abstract: Methods of factoring operating system functions into one or more groups of functions are described. Factorization permits operating systems that are not configured to support computing in an object-oriented environment to be used in an object oriented environment. This promotes distributed computing by enabling operating system resources to be instantiated and used across process and machine boundaries. In one embodiment, criteria are defined that govern how functions of an operating system are to be factored into one or more groups. Based on the defined criteria, the functions are factors into groups and groups of functions are when associated with programming objects that have data and methods, wherein the methods correspond to the operating system functions. Applications can call methods on the programming objects either directly or indirectly that, in turn, call operating system functions.

Abstract: Systems and methods to enforce policy in a multi-computer service application are described. The application includes multiple software modules that execute on multiple computers. The multi-computer service application has access to a communications medium that allows data communications between different ones of the computers. The software modules have logical input and output ports and logical data connections between modules. Each logical port is defined by port software. In one aspect, a particular module sends a notification to a policy module. Responsive to the notification, the policy module (a) determines a request for one or more destination modules, and (b) provides the request to an output port of the policy module. The output port forwards the request to input ports of a plurality of the modules in accordance with the logical data connections.

Abstract: Systems and methods to enforce policy in a multi-computer service application are described. In one aspect, a scale-independent logical model of an application is generated. The application is for implementation in a distributed computing system. The scale-independent logical model includes multiple components representing logical functions of the application and intercommunication protocols. The model components are converted into one or more instances representative of physical resources used to implement the logical functions. The instances specify information such as communication ports on the physical resources and communication paths that link the physical resources.

Abstract: The present invention discloses an apparatus and method for maintaining the coherence of data within a shared memory network including a plurality of nodes. The system utilizes processors monitoring the occurrence of particular processing events within a local memory storage area. Upon the detection of events indicating the change of status of a particular group of data, a comparison is made between a modified copy of the group of data and a clean copy of the group of data to detect any modifications made to the group of data. These modifications are entered into the clean copy of the group of data and processing continues.