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Cambridge Distributed Computing System

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Cambridge Distributed Computing System
DeveloperComputer Laboratory, University of Cambridge[1]
Working stateHistoric
PlatformsComputer Automation LSI4, Motorola 68000[2]
InfluencedPlan 9 from Bell Labs[3]

The Cambridge Distributed Computing System was a distributed operating system developed in the 1980s at Cambridge University. It grew out of the Cambridge Ring local area network, which it used to interconnect computers.[2]

The Cambridge system connected terminals to "processor banks". At login, a user would request from the bank a machine with a given architecture and amount of memory. The system then assigned to the user a machine that served, for the duration of the login session, as their "personal" computer. The machines in the processor bank ran the TRIPOS operating system. Additional special-purpose servers provided file and other services. At its height, the Cambridge system consisted of some 90 machines.[2]

References

  1. ^ Needham, Roger Michael; Herbert, Andrew J. (1983). The Cambridge Distributed Computing System. Addison Wesley.
  2. ^ a b c Tanenbaum, Andrew S.; Van Renesse, Robbert (1985). "Distributed operating systems". ACM Computing Surveys. 17 (4): 419–470.
  3. ^ Pike, R.; Presotto, D.; Dorward, S.; Flandrena, B.; Thompson, K.; Trickey, H.; Winterbottom, P. "Plan 9 from Bell Labs". Bell Labs. Lucent Technologies. Retrieved 2011-12-02.