ITR: Robust Large-Scale Distributed Systems

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This project is a novel decentralized infrastructure, based on distributed hash tables (DHTs), that will enable a new generation of large-scale distributed applications. The key technology on which we build, DHTs, are robust in the face of failures, attacks and unexpectedly high loads. They are scalable, achieving large system sizes without incurring undue overhead. They are self-configuring, automatically incorporating new nodes without manual intervention or oversight. They simplify distributed programming by providing a clean and flexible interface. And, finally, they provide a shared infrastructure simultaneously usable by many applications.The approach advocated here is a radical departure from both the centralized client-server and the application-specific overlay models of distributed applications. This new approach will not only change the way large-scale distributed systems are built, but could potentially have far reaching societal implications as well. The main challenge in building any distributed system lies in dealing with security, robustness, management, and scaling issues; today each new system must solve these problems for itself, requiring significant hardware investment and sophisticated software design. The shared distributed infrastructure will relieve individual applications of these burdens, thereby greatly reducing the barriers to entry for large-scale distributed services.Our belief that DHTs are the right enabling infrastructure is based on two conjectures: (1) a DHT with application-independent, unconstrained keys and values provides a general purpose interface upon which a wide variety of distributed applications can be built, and (2) distributed applications that make use of the DHT-based infrastructure inherit basic levels of security, robustness, ease of operation, and scaling. Much of the thrust of the proposed research is an exploration of these two conjectures.We will investigate the first conjecture, that the DHT abstraction can support a wide range of applications, by building a variety of DHT-based systems. Our recent work has used DHTs to support such varied applications as distributed file systems, multicast overlay networks, event notification systems, and distributed query processing. DHTs simplify the structure of these systems by providing general-purpose key/value naming rather than imposing structured keys (e.g., hierarchical names in DNS). These systems are early prototypes, but they suggest that DHTs may be as useful to distributed applications as ordinary hash tables are to programs.The second conjecture relies on techniques for creating robust, secure, and self-organizing infrastructures out of many mutually distrustful nodes. Our initial work on robust DHT designs gives us confidence that such techniques are within reach. The bulk of our proposed research will be devoted to the in-depth study of these techniques, with the express aim of producing a sound and coherent design for the infrastructure. To investigate the real-world behavior of our design, we will create a large-scale open testbed for which we will distribute our infrastructure software, some enabling libraries, and a few key compelling applications.In addition to its impact on the creation of distributed applications, our research program will have benefits in education and outreach. Given their current importance, security, robustness, and the design of distributed systems should become central topics in undergraduate computer science education. To this end, we are planning a new interdisciplinary course that will address these issues, and bring them into sharper focus early in the undergraduate course sequence.Our testbed and research agenda is also a good vehicle for encouraging the participation of organizations not traditionally involved in networking and systems research. Participation in the testbed requires little cost (a PC and an Internet connection) and minimal levels of systems expertise and over-sight. Moreover, because the material is closely related to the P2P systems with which many students are familiar, the project might appeal to students who would not normally be attracted to research in this area. Based on this premise, we plan an active outreach program to underrepresented populations at non-research undergraduate institutions.