Distributed Shared Memory

Readings

There will be no formal class this week. Instead, please read the following:

• Kai Li, Shared virtual memory on loosely coupled multiprocessors (1986).
  This thesis is the first major work on distributed shared memory. You don't need to follow all of the technical details in this thesis; instead, try to understand Li's framing of the DSM problem and the thread of his argument.

• Jelica Protic et al., "Distributed Shared Memory: Concepts and Systems" (1996)
  This paper reviews later work in the area of distributed shared memory. Read it to understand what issues dominated later research into DSM.

Questions

• What is the appeal of DSM?
• How is DSM related to virtual memory?
• How do concurrency issues affect the design of DSM systems?
• What sort of programs will benefit from DSM? What do not?
• What were the major problems addressed in DSM research following Kai Li's dissertation?
• Did these advances change the scope of environments and problems appropriate for DSM?
• Why aren't DSM systems commonly in use today?