[NTLUG:Discuss] Transport tool - opinions

[Greg Edwards]

I'm working on a project where I want to do concurrent processing over a 
server farm.  I'm looking to do concurrency literally down to the 
function level (using C) by passing the processing duties off to the 
most responsive server available.  I've mentioned this idea here before.

What I'm looking for are experiences and opinions about the current 
tools available for Linux to do the data passing between systems.  I'm 
not looking to reinvent the wheel but I need to have something that is 
fast and will not require jumping through a whole bunch of hoops to 
code.  The application needs to be the focus, not the transport tools.

Currently I'm leaning toward either RPC or Corba.  I would like to use 
off the shelf solutions for the data passing if possible.  If the 
current solutions prove to be lacking in performance I can go back and 
resolve that later.

I've looked at PVM and MPI but as with most high speed processing 
solutions the models are parallel and clusters.  I need more of a 
touring machine solution where the processing duties can start on box A, 
get passed to whomever is available, and eventually return to the 
originating function on box A when complete.

The concept of doing concurrency across a bank of computers does not 
seem to have made any headway in the last 15 years.  Threads provided a 
major breakthrough but I don't know of any extensions that take threads 
beyond on a single box.  But, then again I may have missed something in 
this area of R&D.

-- 
Greg Edwards
New Age Software, Inc. - http://www.nas-inet.com
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