Accession Number:

ADA278897

Title:

Large Granularity Cache Coherence for Intermittent Connectivity

Descriptive Note:

Corporate Author:

CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIV PITTSBURGH PA DEPT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

Personal Author(s):

• Mummert, L.
• Satyanarayanan, M.

Report Date:

1994-04-01

Pagination or Media Count:

15.0

Abstract:

To function in mobile computing environments, distributed file systems must cope with networks that are slow, intermittent, or both. Intermittence vitiates the effectiveness of callback-based cache coherence schemes in reducing client-server communication, because clients must validate files when connections are reestablished. In this paper we show how maintaining cache coherence at a large granularity alleviates this problem. We report on the implementation and performance of large granularity cache coherence for the Coda File System. Our measurements confirm the value of this technique. At 9.6 Kbps. This technique takes only 4 - 20 of the time required by two other strategies to validate the cache for a sample of Coda users. Even at this speed, the network is effectively eliminated as the bottleneck for cache validation. Distributed file systems, Weak connectivity, Mobile computing, Caching, Callbacks, Volume callbacks, Coda.

Descriptors:

• *COHERENCE
• *MOBILE
• *COMPUTER FILES
• VELOCITY
• MEASUREMENT
• COMPUTATIONS
• ENVIRONMENTS
• TIME
• COMPUTER NETWORKS
• INFORMATION RETRIEVAL
• AVAILABILITY
• PROBLEM SOLVING
• HIGH RATE
• STRATEGY
• VALIDATION

Subject Categories:

• Computer Systems

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE