| Abstract: | This paper presents the design of a new system architecture, Virtual Service Grid (VSG), for delivering high‐performance network services. The VSG is based on the concept of the virtual service which provides location, replication, and fault transparency to clients accessing remotely deployed high‐end services. One of the novel features of the virtual service is the ability to self‐scale in response to client demand. The VSG exploits network and service information to make adaptive dynamic replica selection, creation, and deletion decisions. We describe the VSG architecture, middleware, and replica management policies. We have deployed the VSG on a wide‐area Internet testbed to evaluate its performance. The results indicate that the VSG can deliver efficient performance for a wide range of client workloads, both in terms of reduced response time and in the utilization of system resources. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
