XtreemOS
Encyclopedia
XtreemOS is a Linux
-based Operating System
, supporting Virtual Organizations
over Grid Computing
platforms.
The development of XtreemOS was funded as an Integrated Project by the European Commission
under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) sponsorship program. The project started in June 2006 to last for 48 months, but as of beginning 2010, it was extended to last until September 2010. The project was led by INRIA and involved 19 research and
industrial partners from Europe and China.
The XtreemOS Operating System aimed at integrating as a single computing platform many different kinds of devices, from mobile ones to large clusters.
Three different versions of the Operating System (called XtreemOS "flavours") target 1) conventional computing resources, 2) Single-System-Image clusters and 3) Linux-powered mobile devices. The overall software architecture of the computing platform was structured, stacking two main software layers. One (XtreemOS-F) supports the platform locally, and is specific of the device, and a second one (XtreemOS-G) takes care of the network level and integrates different devices into a single computing platform.
XtreemOS tackled the challenge to develop the first planetary-scale, reliable and open source
computing platform, exploiting a secure and scalable support for Virtual Organizations
to allow resource federation.
The goal of the project, besides developing the platform, was also to foster a community of developers, that exploited the XtreemOS extensions to Linux and maintain them. This motivated many of the project design choices, aimed at easing the interaction with the open-source community and at adopting its best practices.
The main challenge for XtreemOS was to provide comparable ease of use, ease of administration, and reliability as an ordinary Operating System, while exploiting an heterogeneous and ubiquitous platform with high performance and scalability. XtreemOS was addressing the need to develop an open-source reference computing platform for the Future Internet
(mainly Iaas).
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
-based Operating System
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
, supporting Virtual Organizations
Virtual Organization (Grid computing)
In grid computing, a Virtual Organization refers to a dynamic set of individuals or institutions defined around a set of resource-sharing rules and conditions...
over Grid Computing
Grid computing
Grid computing is a term referring to the combination of computer resources from multiple administrative domains to reach a common goal. The grid can be thought of as a distributed system with non-interactive workloads that involve a large number of files...
platforms.
The development of XtreemOS was funded as an Integrated Project by the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) sponsorship program. The project started in June 2006 to last for 48 months, but as of beginning 2010, it was extended to last until September 2010. The project was led by INRIA and involved 19 research and
industrial partners from Europe and China.
The XtreemOS Operating System aimed at integrating as a single computing platform many different kinds of devices, from mobile ones to large clusters.
Three different versions of the Operating System (called XtreemOS "flavours") target 1) conventional computing resources, 2) Single-System-Image clusters and 3) Linux-powered mobile devices. The overall software architecture of the computing platform was structured, stacking two main software layers. One (XtreemOS-F) supports the platform locally, and is specific of the device, and a second one (XtreemOS-G) takes care of the network level and integrates different devices into a single computing platform.
XtreemOS tackled the challenge to develop the first planetary-scale, reliable and open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
computing platform, exploiting a secure and scalable support for Virtual Organizations
Virtual Organization (Grid computing)
In grid computing, a Virtual Organization refers to a dynamic set of individuals or institutions defined around a set of resource-sharing rules and conditions...
to allow resource federation.
The goal of the project, besides developing the platform, was also to foster a community of developers, that exploited the XtreemOS extensions to Linux and maintain them. This motivated many of the project design choices, aimed at easing the interaction with the open-source community and at adopting its best practices.
The main challenge for XtreemOS was to provide comparable ease of use, ease of administration, and reliability as an ordinary Operating System, while exploiting an heterogeneous and ubiquitous platform with high performance and scalability. XtreemOS was addressing the need to develop an open-source reference computing platform for the Future Internet
Future Internet
Future Internet is a general term for research activities on new architectures for the Internet.-History:While the technical development of the Internet has been an extensive research topic from the beginning, an increased public awareness of several critical shortcomings in terms of performance,...
(mainly Iaas).