System and method for submitting and performing computational tasks in a distributed heterogeneous networked environment

• US 20040098447A1
• Filed: 11/14/2002
• Published: 05/20/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Ruetsch, Gregory R., Sharapov, Ilya A., Verbeke, Jerome M., Vernik, Michael J., Nadgir, Neelakanth M., Trang, Vu
• Granted Patent: US 7,395,536 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/509 Offload
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5055 considering software capabilities, i.e. software resources associated or available to the machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/185 with management of multicast group membership

Abstract

System and method for submitting and performing computational tasks in a distributed heterogeneous networked environment. Embodiments may allow tasks to be submitted and run in parallel on a network of heterogeneous computers implementing a variety of operating environments. In one embodiment, a user on an originating node may advertise code on the network. Peer nodes that respond to the advertisement may receive the code. A job to be executed by the code may be split into separate tasks to distributed to the peer nodes that received the code. These tasks may be advertised on the network. Tasks may be assigned to peer nodes that respond to the task advertisements. The peer nodes may then work on the assigned tasks. Once a peer node'"'"'s work on a task is completed, the peer node may return the results of the task to the originating node.

Claims

1. A peer-to-peer network system, comprising:

a plurality of peer nodes coupled to a network;

one of the plurality of peer nodes configured to;

provide computer-executable code to others of the plurality of peer nodes, wherein the code is configured to run tasks in parallel on two or more of the plurality of peer nodes to perform a job;

broadcast a task advertisement on the network for each of a plurality of tasks, wherein each of the tasks is configured to be executed by the code to perform a portion of the job; and

assign a different one of the plurality of tasks to each of the plurality of peer nodes that responds to the task advertisements;

wherein each of the plurality of peer nodes assigned tasks is configured to;

perform the particular task assigned by the one of the plurality of peer nodes in accordance with the code received from the one of the plurality of peer nodes; and

return results of the task to the one of the plurality of peer nodes after completion of the task.

2. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of peer nodes assigned tasks is further configured to:

store the code received from the one of the plurality of peer nodes to a local storage; and

load at least a portion of the code from the local storage into execution memory to perform the particular task assigned by the one of the plurality of peer nodes.

3. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein, to provide computer-executable code to others of the plurality of peer nodes, the one of the plurality of peer nodes is further configured to:

broadcast a code advertisement for the code on the network; and

provide the code to each of the plurality of peer nodes that responds to the code advertisement with a request for the code.

4. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 3, wherein, to provide the code to each of the plurality of peer nodes that responds to the code advertisement with a request for the code, the one of the plurality of peer nodes is further configured to transmit the code to each of the plurality of peer nodes that responds to the code advertisement with a request for the code over the network according to a network information transfer protocol.

5. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 4, wherein the network information transfer protocol is HTTP.

6. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of peer nodes assigned tasks are member peers in a peer group according to a peer-to-peer platform.

7. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein, to assign a different one of the plurality of tasks to each of the plurality of peer nodes that responds to the task advertisements, the one of the plurality of peer nodes is further configured to provide an indication of the particular task to be performed to each of the subset of the plurality of peer nodes, wherein the indication of the particular task to be performed includes one or more parameters specifying the particular task.

8. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein, to assign a different one of the plurality of tasks to each of the plurality of peer nodes that responds to the task advertisements, the one of the plurality of peer nodes is further configured to transmit a specification of the particular task to be performed to each of the subset of the plurality of peer nodes over the network according to a network information transfer protocol.

9. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 8, wherein the network information transfer protocol is HTTP.

10. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein the code is in a bytecode computer language.

11. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein the code is Java code.

12. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein the one of the plurality of peer nodes and at least one of the plurality of peer nodes assigned tasks are on opposite sides of a firewall.

13. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of peer nodes are configured to participate in a peer-to-peer environment on the network in accordance with one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols for enabling the peer nodes to discover each other, communicate with each other, and cooperate with each other to form peer groups in the peer-to-peer environment.

14. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of peer nodes are configured to participate in a distributed computing framework on the network for submitting computational tasks in a distributed heterogeneous networked environment that utilizes peer groups to decentralize task dispatching and post-processing functions and enables a plurality of jobs to be managed and run simultaneously.

15. A peer-to-peer network system, comprising:

a plurality of peer nodes coupled to a network;

a subset of the plurality of peer nodes, each comprising computer-executable code configured to run tasks in parallel on two or more of the plurality of peer nodes to perform a job, wherein each of the subset of the plurality of peer nodes is configured to;

access a task advertisement from the one of the plurality of peer nodes on the network, wherein the task advertisements specifies one of a plurality of tasks configured to be executed in parallel by the code on the subset of the plurality of peer nodes, and wherein the one of the plurality of tasks is configured to perform a portion of the job;

send a request for the task to the one of the plurality of peer nodes in response to the task advertisement;

receive a task assignment from the one of the plurality of peer nodes in response to the request for the task;

perform the particular task assigned by the one of the plurality of peer nodes in accordance with the code; and

return results of the task to the one of the plurality of peer nodes when the task is completed.

16. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 15, wherein each of the a subset of the plurality of peer nodes is further configured to:

store the code in a local storage; and

load at least a portion of the code from the local storage into execution memory to perform the particular task received from the one of the plurality of peer nodes.

17. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 15, wherein each of the subset of the plurality of peer nodes is further configured to:

receive a code advertisement for the code from the one of the plurality of peer nodes on the network;

send a request for the code to the one of the plurality of peer nodes in response to the code advertisement; and

receive the code from the one of the plurality of peer nodes in response to the request for the code.

18. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 17, wherein each of the subset of the plurality of peer nodes is further configured to receive the code from the one of the plurality of peer nodes in response to the request for the code over the network according to a network information transfer protocol.

19. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 18, wherein the network information transfer protocol is HTTP.

20. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 15, wherein the subset of the plurality of peer nodes are member peers in a peer group according to a peer-to-peer platform.

21. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 15, wherein each task assignment includes one or more parameters specifying a particular task.

22. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 15, wherein, to receive a task assignment from the one of the plurality of peer nodes in response to the request for the task, each of the subset of the plurality of peer nodes is further configured to receive a specification of the particular task to be performed from the one of the plurality of peer nodes over the network according to a network information transfer protocol.

23. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 22, wherein the network information transfer protocol is HTTP.

24. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 15, wherein the code is in a bytecode computer language.

25. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 15, wherein the code is Java code.

26. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 15, wherein the one of the plurality of peer nodes and at least one of the subset of the plurality of peer nodes are on opposite sides of a firewall.

27. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 15, wherein the plurality of peer nodes are configured to participate in a peer-to-peer environment on the network in accordance with one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols for enabling the peer nodes to discover each other, communicate with each other, and cooperate with each other to form peer groups in the peer-to-peer environment.

28. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 15, wherein the plurality of peer nodes are configured to participate in a distributed computing framework on the network for submitting computational tasks in a distributed heterogeneous networked environment that utilizes peer groups to decentralize task dispatching and post-processing functions and enables a plurality of jobs to be managed and run simultaneously.

29. A peer-to-peer network system, comprising:

means for providing computer-executable code to a plurality of peer nodes on a network, wherein the code is configured to execute a plurality of tasks, and wherein each of the plurality of tasks is configured to perform a portion of a job;

means for advertising the plurality of tasks on the network;

means for assigning a different one of the plurality of tasks to each of a group of peer nodes that responds to said advertising the plurality of tasks; and

means for executing the plurality of tasks in parallel on the group of peer nodes to perform the job.

30. The peer-to-peer network system as recited in claim 29, wherein said means for providing computer-executable code to a plurality of peer nodes on a network comprises:

means for advertising the code on the network; and

means for providing the code to each of the plurality of peer nodes that responds to said advertising the code on the network.

31. A method, comprising:

a peer node on a network providing computer-executable code to other peer nodes on the network, wherein the code is configured to run tasks in parallel on two or more of the other peer nodes to perform a job;

the peer node broadcasting a task advertisement on the network for each of a plurality of tasks, wherein each of the tasks is configured to be executed by the code to perform a portion of the job;

the peer node assigning a different one of the plurality of tasks to each of a plurality of peer nodes that responds to the task advertisements;

each of the plurality of peer nodes assigned tasks performing the particular task assigned by the peer node in accordance with the code received from the one of the plurality of peer nodes; and

each of the plurality of peer nodes assigned tasks returning results of the task to the peer node after completion of the task.

32. The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising:

each of the plurality of peer nodes storing the code received from the one of the plurality of peer nodes to a local storage; and

each of the plurality of peer nodes loading at least a portion of the code from the local storage into execution memory to perform the particular task assigned by the one of the plurality of peer nodes.

33. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein said providing computer-executable code to others of the plurality of peer nodes comprises:

the one of the plurality of peer nodes broadcasting a code advertisement for the code on the network; and

the one of the plurality of peer nodes providing the code to each of the plurality of peer nodes that responds to the code advertisement with a request for the code.

34. The method as recited in claim 33, wherein said providing the code to each of the plurality of peer nodes that responds to the code advertisement with a request for the code comprises the one of the plurality of peer nodes transmitting the code to each of the over the network according to a network information transfer protocol.

35. The method as recited in claim 34, wherein the network information transfer protocol is HTTP.

36. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the plurality of peer nodes assigned tasks are member peers in a peer group according to a peer-to-peer platform.

37. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein said assigning a different one of the plurality of tasks to each of the plurality of peer nodes that responds to the task advertisements comprises the one of the plurality of peer nodes providing an indication of the particular task to be performed to each of the subset of the plurality of peer nodes, wherein the indication of the particular task to be performed includes one or more parameters specifying the particular task.

38. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein said assigning a different one of the plurality of tasks to each of the plurality of peer nodes that responds to the task advertisements comprises the one of the plurality of peer nodes transmitting a specification of the particular task to be performed to each of the subset of the plurality of peer nodes over the network according to a network information transfer protocol.

39. The method as recited in claim 38, wherein the network information transfer protocol is HTTP.

40. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the code is in a bytecode computer language.

41. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the code is Java code.

42. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the one of the plurality of peer nodes and at least one of the plurality of peer nodes assigned tasks are on opposite sides of a firewall.

43. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the plurality of peer nodes are configured to participate in a peer-to-peer environment on the network in accordance with one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols for enabling the peer nodes to discover each other, communicate with each other, and cooperate with each other to form peer groups in the peer-to-peer environment.

44. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the plurality of peer nodes are configured to participate in a distributed computing framework on the network for submitting computational tasks in a distributed heterogeneous networked environment that utilizes peer groups to decentralize task dispatching and post-processing functions and enables a plurality of jobs to be managed and run simultaneously.

45. A computer-accessible medium comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are configured to implement:

a peer node on a network providing computer-executable code to other peer nodes on the network, wherein the code is configured to run tasks in parallel on two or more of the other peer nodes to perform a job;

the peer node broadcasting a task advertisement on the network for each of a plurality of tasks, wherein each of the tasks is configured to be executed by the code to perform a portion of the job;

the peer node assigning a different one of the plurality of tasks to each of a plurality of peer nodes that responds to the task advertisements;

each of the plurality of peer nodes assigned tasks performing the particular task assigned by the peer node in accordance with the code received from the one of the plurality of peer nodes; and

each of the plurality of peer nodes assigned tasks returning results of the task to the peer node after completion of the task.

46. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 45, wherein the program instructions are further configured to implement:

each of the plurality of peer nodes storing the code received from the one of the plurality of peer nodes to a local storage; and

each of the plurality of peer nodes loading at least a portion of the code from the local storage into execution memory to perform the particular task assigned by the one of the plurality of peer nodes.

47. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 45, wherein, in said providing computer-executable code to others of the plurality of peer nodes, the program instructions are further configured to implement:

the one of the plurality of peer nodes broadcasting a code advertisement for the code on the network; and

the one of the plurality of peer nodes providing the code to each of the plurality of peer nodes that responds to the code advertisement with a request for the code.

48. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 47, wherein, in said providing the code to each of the plurality of peer nodes that responds to the code advertisement with a request for the code, the program instructions are further configured to implement the one of the plurality of peer nodes transmitting the code to each of the plurality of peer nodes that responds to the code advertisement with a request for the code over the network according to a network information transfer protocol.

49. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 48, wherein the network information transfer protocol is HTTP.

50. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 45, wherein the plurality of peer nodes assigned tasks are member peers in a peer group according to a peer-to-peer platform.

51. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 45, wherein, in said assigning a different one of the plurality of tasks to each of the plurality of peer nodes that responds to the task advertisements, the program instructions are further configured to implement the one of the plurality of peer nodes providing an indication of the particular task to be performed to each of the subset of the plurality of peer nodes, wherein the indication of the particular task to be performed includes one or more parameters specifying the particular task.

52. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 45, wherein, in said assigning a different one of the plurality of tasks to each of the plurality of peer nodes that responds to the task advertisements, the program instructions are further configured to implement the one of the plurality of peer nodes transmitting a specification of the particular task to be performed to each of the subset of the plurality of peer nodes over the network according to a network information transfer protocol.

53. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 52, wherein the network information transfer protocol is HTTP.

54. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 45, wherein the code is in a bytecode computer language.

55. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 45, wherein the code is Java code.

56. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 45, wherein the one of the plurality of peer nodes and at least one of the plurality of peer nodes assigned tasks are on opposite sides of a firewall.

57. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 45, wherein the plurality of peer nodes are configured to participate in a peer-to-peer environment on the network in accordance with one or more peer-to-peer platform protocols for enabling the peer nodes to discover each other, communicate with each other, and cooperate with each other to form peer groups in the peer-to-peer environment.

58. The computer-accessible medium as recited in claim 45, wherein the plurality of peer nodes are configured to participate in a distributed computing framework on the network for submitting computational tasks in a distributed heterogeneous networked environment that utilizes peer groups to decentralize task dispatching and post-processing functions and enables a plurality of jobs to be managed and run simultaneously.