Collaborative Metacomputing with IceT

The IceT metacomputing system is based on the principles of collaborative resource sharing, lightweight software frameworks, and efficient execution in heterogeneous environments. In this project, the traditional model for distributed computing environments has been extended to facilitate the controlled and secure exchange of hardware and software resources, and to support programming paradigms that achieve a balance between portability and efficiency. The current IceT system is Java-based, and presents a framework within which non-persistent collections of resources, users, and processes may interact to accomplish distributed problem solving. This paper describes the architecture and design principles of IceT, its operational model and support for the execution of distributed applications, and orthogonal subsystems that were developed to support the concept of cooperative metacomputing.