Identifying Open Problems in Distributed Systems

From this model, we draw four phyla of application: point- to-point, multiplexed, fragmented, and peer to peer. This last phylum defines our target domain and we apply lessons learned from the other three groups to it. Through our tax- onomy, we describe a set of architectural systems problems that must be addressed. The second aspect of our examination has been to step back and examine the implications involved with the adop- tion of large-scale distributed operating environments. In this section, we are less concerned with classical systems issues (performance, robustness, and scale) and more con- cerned with pragmatic factors involved in building a good system. We present a broad set of pertinent problems that will need to be addressed for these systems to be successful outside of the research laboratory.