The MOSIX Distributed Operating System

This book describes the design and internals of the MOSIX
distributed operating system. MOSIX, an acronym for
Multicomputer Operating System for UNIX, integrates a
cluster of loosely integrated computers into a virtual
single-machine UNIX environment. The main property of MOSIX
is the high degree of integration among the processors,
which may include personal workstations and shared memory
and non-shared memory multiprocessors, connected by fast
communication links. This integration includes network
transparency, cooperation between the processors to provide
services across machine boundaries, support of dynamic
configuration, and system-initiated load balancing by
process migration. Another property of MOSIX is the ability
to scale up the system configuration to encompass a large
number of computers. The development of MOSIX was begun in
1981. The book is intended primarily for readers who are
interested in distributed and multiprocessor systems. The
reader is assumed to have some knowledge in programming and
operating systems, preferably UNIX. Readers without this
background will still benefit from thetechniques and
algorithms discussed.