Method and system for distributing applications

• US 7,096,249 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2002
• Issued: 08/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Kuhn, Robert H., Rajic, Hrabri L.
• Primary Examiner(s): VU, THONG H
• Application Number:
  US10/109,938
• Publication Number:
  US 20030187983A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,607 Days
• Field of Search: 709201-203, 709217-219, 709/223, 709/225, 709/229, 709/245, 719/315, 719/316, 719/313, 719/328, 707/200, 707/10
• US Class Current: 709/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication

Abstract

Methods and systems for distributing applications are described herein. In one aspect of the invention, an exemplary method includes receiving an original request for accessing a distributed resource management system (DRMS) through an application distributor application programming interface (API), the application distributor API being independent of the DRMS, selecting the DRMS as requested, translating the original request to be compatible with the selected DRMS, and transmitting translated request to the selected DRMS. Other methods and systems are also described.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

replacing a child application with a local proxy application at a local node, the child application being launched from a parent distributed application, the child application communicating with the parent distributed application via the local proxy, the child application intended to be executed within the local node;

transmitting from the local proxy, a remote proxy execution request to a distributed resource management system (DRMS) to distribute the child application to be executed by the DRMS at the remote node, the DRMS being located at a remote node communicatively coupled to the local node over a network;

the DRMS executing at least a portion of tasks of the child application as a remote child application via a remote proxy at the remote node, the remote proxy interfacing the local proxy and the DRMS at the remote node; and

maintaining a communication channel between the remote child application and the parent distributed application via the local proxy and the remote proxy directly coupled with each other, the remote child application communicating transparently with the parent distributed application through the communication channel established by the local and remote proxies, as if the child application is spawned from the parent distributed application and executed within the local node, and the maintaining the communication channel including

receiving a message by the local proxy at the local node from the parent distributed application destined to the child application,

the local proxy redirecting the message to a remote proxy at the remote node through the communication channel over the network without knowledge of the parent distributed application, and

the remote proxy transmitting the message to the remote child application without knowledge of the parent distributed application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein maintaining a communication channel comprises:

starting a communication server within the local proxy at the local node; and

starting a communication client within the remote proxy at the remote node, the communication client of the remote node communicating with the communication server of the local node over the network, and the communication server and client maintaining the communication between the remote child application and the parent distributed application without an acknowledge of the parent distributed application.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the communication server is a socket server and the communication client is a socket client.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising periodically monitoring the remote proxy and the remote child application at the remote node by a daemon monitor, the daemon monitor being located within the remote node.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising the daemon monitor terminating the remote child application in response to a termination of the remote proxy if the remote child application is still running.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising the remote node terminating the daemon monitor if there is no activity of remote proxy and remote child application for a predetermined period of time.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting the DRMS as requested;

receiving an original request to submit a remote job to execute the child application to a distributed resource management system (DRMS) using an application distributor application programming interface (API), the application distributor API encapsulating specific information with respect to the DRMS;

translating the original request to be compatible with the selected DRMS, forming a remote job request to execute the child application for the selected DRMS; and

transmitting the remote job request to the DRMS, the application distributor API providing a unified API to the parent distributed application to distribute the child application to a plurality of DRMS systems, wherein at least two of the DRMS systems include different APIs that are not compatible to each other, and wherein the application distributor API converts one or more calls from the parent distributed application to an API of a selected DRMS executing the child application if the one or more calls are not in a form compatible with the API of the selected DRMS, such that a developer of the parent distributed application does not have to modify the one or more calls to satisfy different APIs of different DRMS systems being accessed.

8. A system, comprising:

a child application launched from a parent distributed application, the child application communicating with the parent distributed application;

a local proxy being launched from the parent distributed application at a local node, the child application intended to be executed within the local node, the local proxy communicating with the parent distributed application, and submitting a request to a DRMS to execute remote proxy on a remote node on behalf of the child application to distribute the child application to be executed by the DRMS at the remote node;

a remote proxy located at the remote node to execute at least a portion of tasks of the child application as a remote child application at the remote node, remote proxy interfacing the local proxy and the DRMS at the remote node; and

a communication channel transparently established between the remote child application at the remote node and the parent distributed application at the local node, the communication channel being maintained by the local and remote proxies directly coupled with each other over a network, including

receiving a message by the local proxy at the local node from the parent distributed application destined to the child application,

the local proxy redirecting the message to a remote proxy at the remote node through the communication channel over the network without knowledge of the parent distributed application, and

the remote proxy transmitting the message to the remote child application without knowledge of the parent distributed application.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the communication channel comprises:

a communication server started within the local proxy at the local node; and

a communication client started within the remote proxy at the remote node, the communication client communicating with the communication server over the network, and the communication server and client maintain the communication between the remote child application and the parent distributed application on the local node.

10. The system of claim 8 further comprises a proxy daemon being executed to periodically monitor the remote proxy and the remote child application being executed.

11. The system of claim 8 further comprising a library that implements an application programming interface (API) to receive the execution request from a user, the API being independent to the DRMS and encapsulating specific information of the DRMS.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the API library has multiple paths for translating the execution request to be compatible with the DRMS requested.

13. A machine readable medium having stored thereon executable code which causes a machine to perform a method, the method comprising:

replacing a child application with a local proxy application at a local node, the child application being launched from a parent distributed application, the child application communicating with the parent distributed application via the local proxy, the child application intended to be executed within the local node;

transmitting from the local proxy, a remote proxy execution request to a distributed resource management system (DRMS) to distribute the child application to be executed by the DRMS at the remote node, the DRMS being located at a remote node communicatively coupled to the local node over a network;

the DRMS executing at least a portion of tasks of the child application as a remote child application via a remote proxy at the remote node, the remote proxy interfacing the local proxy and the DRMS at the remote node; and

maintaining a communication channel between the remote child application and the parent distributed application via the local proxy and the remote proxy directly coupled with each other, the remote child application communicating transparently with the parent distributed application through the communication channel established by the local and remote proxies, as if the child application is spawned from the parent distributed application and executed within the local node, and the maintaining the communication channel including

receiving a message by the local proxy at the local node from the parent distributed application destined to the child application,

the local proxy redirecting the message to a remote proxy at the remote node through the communication channel over the network without knowledge of the parent distributed application, and

the remote proxy transmitting the message to the remote child application without knowledge of the parent distributed application.

14. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a signal by the local proxy at the local node sent from the parent distributed application, the signal being sent to the child application;

encoding and redirecting the signal to the remote proxy at the remote node through the communication channel over the network; and

remote proxy decoding the signal and resending it to the remote child application.

15. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises periodically monitoring the remote proxy and the remote child application at the remote node.

16. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

selecting the DRMS as requested;

receiving an original request to submit a remote job to execute the child application to a distributed resource management system (DRMS) using an application distributor application programming interface (API), the application distributor API encapsulating specific information with respect to the DRMS;

translating the first request to be compatible with the selected DRMS, forming a remote job request to execute the child application for the selected DRMS; and

transmitting the remote job request to the DRMS, the application distributor API providing a unified API to the parent distributed application to distribute the child application to a plurality of DRMS systems, wherein at least two of the DRMS systems include different APIs that are not compatible to each other, and wherein the application distributor API converts one or more calls from the parent distributed application to an API of a selected DRMS executing the child application if the one or more calls are not in a form compatible with the API of the selected DRMS, such that a developer of the parent distributed application does not have to modify the one or more calls to satisfy different APIs of different DRMS systems being accessed.

17. The machine readable medium of claim 13, wherein maintaining a communication channel comprises:

starting a communication server within the local proxy at the local node; and

starting a communication client within the remote proxy at the remote node, the communication client communicating with the communication server over the network, and the communication server and client maintaining the communication between the remote child application and the parent distributed application.