Distributed behavior controlled execution of modeled applications

• US 8,024,396 B2
• Filed: 04/26/2007
• Issued: 09/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Neary, Michael Oliver, Swartz, Steve, Sripathi Panditharadhya, Nagalinga Durga Prasad, Borsa, Mariusz Gerard, Kulkarni, Amol Sudhakar, Wu, Haoran Andy, Sedukhin, Igor, Eshner, Daniel, Bhaskara, Udaya Kumar
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, THUONG
• Application Number:
  US11/740,737
• Publication Number:
  US 20080270411A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,608 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709/224, 709/243, 707/10, 718/100
• US Class Current: 709/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5061 Partitioning or combining of resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services

Abstract

The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for distributed behavior controlled execution of modeled applications. Embodiments of the invention facilitate the interoperation of a central data store along with various peer-to-peer functionalities. Thus, distributed applications can be executed in an environment that utilizes advantages of both a central data store and peer-to-peer messaging. A read-only portion of a centralized data store can be used to provide some behavior control over various processing systems during execution of a distributed software application. Thus, embodiments of the invention can be used to form a policy-driven collective of nodes forming a distributed, decentralized run-time for model-based applications. Utilizing a cooperating collective of nodes that comply with centralized polices and execute applications over a peer-to-peer fabric permits a distributed application runtime to accommodate distribution and decentralization on a large scale.

Claims

1. A distributed computing system configured to centrally control the distributed execution of a model-based distributed software application executing across a plurality of peer-peer connected processing systems, the distributed computing system comprising:

a plurality of processing systems that are connected in a peer-to-peer network and that are configured to interoperate to execute the model-based distributed software application across the plurality of peer-to-peer processing systems, each of the plurality of peer-to-peer processing systems including;

a portion of distributed logic, the portion of distributed logic configured to execute a portion of the model-based distributed software application; and

at least one processor operatively coupled a system memory and one or more computer storage devices having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, implement a controller, the controller configured to;

enforce centrally defined policies that prescribe and limit behavior of the processing system during the distributed execution of the model-based distributed software application across the plurality of peer-to-peer processing systems; and

coordinate interoperation with other processing systems in the peer-to-peer network to execute the model-based distributed software application in accordance with the centrally defined policies, including utilizing collective behavior of the plurality of processing systems to recover from any of one or more errors during the distributed execution of the model-based distributed software application in accordance with the centrally defined policies, and prohibiting at least one of the plurality of processing systems from initiating error recovery for certain predefined errors;

a data store connected to and shared among each of the peer-to-peer processing systems, the data store including;

read-only policy data, the read-only policy data centrally defining application specific policies that each portion of distributed logic is to comply with during the distributed execution of the model-based distributed application, the read-only policy data prescribing and limiting behavior that peer-to-peer processing systems can exhibit individually and cooperatively during the distributed execution of the model-based distributed software application; and

read-write application data, the plurality of peer-to-peer processing systems using the read-write application data to store and share distributed software application data during the distributed execution of the model-based distributed software application, the read-write application data comprising run time metrics used to determine compliance with prescribed behavior indicated in the read-only policy data; and

a message infrastructure connected to and shared among the distributed logic, the message infrastructure configured to exchange messages among the peer-to-peer processing systems to;

discover the presence of portions of distributed logic at the peer-to-peer processing systems for use in executing the model-based distributed software application; and

interoperate with the controllers at the peer-to-peer processing systems to prescribe and limit the behavior of the peer-to-peer processing systems for compliance with the centrally defined policies when executing the model-based distributed software application.

2. The distributed computing system as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of peer-to-peer processing systems form a distributed, decentralized run-time for model-based distributed software applications.

3. The distributed computing system as recited in claim 1, further comprising second read-only data describing one or more model-based distributed software applications configured for distributed execution by the distributed logic.

4. The distributed computing system as recited in claim 1, wherein the read-write data comprises data used to describe the application state of a distributed application, wherein the application state is selected from among configured, deployed, and running.

5. The distributed computing system as recited in claim 1, wherein the message infrastructure is a distributed publish subscribe infrastructure.

6. The distributed computing system as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the a plurality of processing systems implements a peer-to-peer executive service.

7. A method for executing a model-based distributed software application in a distributed processing system, the distributed processing system including:

(i) a plurality of decentralized processing systems that are connected in a peer-to-peer network and that each use at least one processor operatively coupled to system memory to implement a group of peer-to-peer executive services collectively representing a distributed run-time, each peer-to-peer executive service including distributed logic for executing the model-based distributed software application across the group of peer-to-peer executive services;

(ii) a common data repository shared by each of the peer-to-peer processing systems and having a read-only portion and a read-write portion, the read-only portion storing one or more model-based distributed software applications and storing centrally defined policies that each peer-to-peer executive service is to comply with during the distributed execution of the model-based distributed software application, the centrally defined policies prescribing and limiting individual and cooperative behavior of the peer-to-peer executive services when executing the model-based distributed software application, the read-write portion usable by the peer-to-peer executive services to maintain application state and application operational data; and

(iii) a service bus, the peer-to-peer executive services using the service bus to discover and cooperatively communicate with one another to execute the model-based distributed software application, the method comprising;

an act of a peer-to-peer executive service of the distributed run-time receiving a command to execute a model-based distributed software application stored in the read-only portion of the common data repository, wherein the peer-to-peer executive service is implemented at a processing system that includes at least one processor;

an act of the peer-to-peer executive service discovering other peer-to-peer executive services of the distributed run-time via the service bus, the peer-to-peer executive service and each of the other peer-to-peer executive services distributed across the plurality of decentralized peer-to-peer processing systems;

an act of the peer-to-peer executive service and the other peer-to-peer executive services referring to the centrally defined policies to cooperatively group together to provide distributed logic across the plurality of decentralized processing systems for executing the model-based distributed software application in accordance with the centrally defined polices;

an act of the group of peer-to-peer executive services coordinating via the service bus to execute the model-based distributed software application across the decentralized peer-to-peer processing systems in accordance with the centrally defined policies, executing the model-based distributed software application across the plurality of decentralized peer-to-peer processing systems including prescribing and limiting the individual and cooperative behavior of the group of peer-to-peer executive services in accordance with the centrally defined policies, including;

an act of using the read-write portion of the common data repository to reflect the application state of the model-based distributed software application;

an act of using the read-write portion of the common data repository to reflect operational data corresponding to the model-based distributed software application, including using the read-write portion of the common data repository to maintain runtime metrics that can be evaluated to determine if peer-to-peer executive services are complying with the centrally defined polices; and

an act of utilizing collective behavior of the group of peer-to-peer executive services to recover from any of one or more errors during the distributed execution of the model-based distributed software application in accordance with the centrally defined policies, and prohibiting at least one of the peer-to-peer executive services from initiating error recovery for certain predefined errors.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the act of the group of peer-to-peer executive services coordinating via the service bus to execute the model-based distributed software application comprises an act of a controller at each peer-to-peer executive service monitoring the behavior of the executive service for compliance with the policies.

9. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the act of the group of peer-to-peer executive services coordinating via the service bus to execute the model-based distributed software application comprises utilizing the policies to suppress local behavior at a peer-to-peer executive service that negatively affects the distributed execution of the model-based distributed software application at one or more other peer-to-peer executive services.

10. One or more computer storage device for use in a distributed processing system, the distributed processing system including:

(i) a plurality of decentralized processing systems that are connected in a peer-to-peer network and that each use at least one processor operatively coupled to system memory to execute computer-executable instructions that implement a group of peer-to-peer executive services collectively representing a distributed run-time, each peer-to-peer executive service including distributed logic for executing the model-based distributed software application across the group of peer-to-peer executive services;

(ii) a common data repository shared by each of the peer-to-peer processing systems and having a read-only portion and a read-write portion, the read-only portion storing one or more model-based distributed software applications and storing centrally defined policies that each peer-to-peer executive service is to comply with during the distributed execution of the model-based distributed software application, the centrally defined policies prescribing and limiting the individual and cooperative behavior of the peer-to-peer executive services when executing the model-based distributed software application, the read-write portion usable by the peer-to-peer executive services to maintain application state and application operational data; and

(iii) a service bus, the peer-to-peer executive services using the service bus to discover and cooperatively communicate with one another to execute the model-based distributed software applications, the computer program product for implementing a method for executing a model-based distributed software application in the distributed computing system, the one or more computer storage device having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a peer-to-peer executive service of the distributed processing system to perform the method, including the following;

receive, at a peer-to-peer executive service, a command to execute a model-based distributed software application stored in the read-only portion of the common data repository, wherein the peer-to-peer executive service is implemented at a processing system that includes at least one processor;

discover other peer-to-peer executive services of the distributed run-time via the service bus, the peer-to-peer executive service and each of the other peer-to-peer executive services distributed across the plurality of decentralized peer-to-peer processing systems;

refer to the centrally defined polices to cooperatively group together with the other executive services to provide distributed logic across the plurality of decentralized processing systems for executing the model-based distributed software application in accordance with the centrally defined polices;

coordinate via the service bus to execute the model-based distributed software application across the plurality of decentralized peer-to-peer processing systems in accordance with the centrally defined policies, executing the model-based distributed software application across the decentralized peer-to-peer processing systems including prescribing and limiting the individual and cooperative behavior of the group of peer-to-peer executive services in accordance with the centrally defined policies, including;

using the read-write portion of the common data repository to reflect the application state of the model-based distributed software application;

using the read-write portion of the common data repository to reflect operational data corresponding to the model-based distributed software application, including using the read-write portion of the common data repository to maintain runtime metrics that can be evaluated to determine if peer-to-peer executive services are complying with the centrally defined polices; and

utilizing collective behavior of the group of peer-to-peer executive services to recover from any of one or more errors during the distributed execution of the model-based distributed software application in accordance with the centrally defined policies, and prohibiting at least one of the peer-to-peer executive services from initiating error recovery for certain predefined errors.

11. The one or more computer storage device as recited in claim 10, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a peer-to-peer executive service to coordinate via the service bus to execute the model-based distributed software application across the decentralized processing systems comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed, monitor the behavior of the peer-to-peer executive service for compliance with the centrally defined policies.

12. The one or more computer storage device as recited in claim 10, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a peer-to-peer executive service to coordinate via the service bus to execute the model-based distributed software application across the decentralized processing systems comprise computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the peer-to-peer executive service to utilize the policies to suppress local behavior at another peer-to-peer executive service that negatively affects the distributed execution of the model-based distributed software application at one or more other peer-to-peer executive services.