Transparent computing ahead of cloud computing

Although the first time IBM explicitly put the concept of "cloud computing" in the form of a white paper, actually the relevant ideas have been reflected in previous research and practice. Interestingly, our computer researchers have had a very similar idea before the term "cloud computing", which is transparent computing. It can be said that transparent computing has embodied the characteristics of cloud computing, that is, resource pool dynamic construction, virtualization and user transparency.

The research team led by the academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Zhang of the computer department of Tsinghua University has been engaged in the study of transparent computing systems and theories since 1998, formally presented before and after 2004, and constantly perfecting the concept of transparent computing and related theories, first of all in the scope described in the cloud computing work. In a transparent computing mode, the user's various computing devices (referred to as clients) do not preset any operating system and application software, users can, according to demand, at the client startup through the network at any time to choose the client-compatible operating system and the operating system of a variety of software applications. From the present point of view, the idea of transparent computing coincides with the idea of cloud computing, the first in research and system architecture to show the essence of the cloud computing platform.

The concept of transparent computing

Transparent computing is a user without perceiving the computer operating system, the specific location of middleware, applications and communication networks is to select and use the services (such as computing, telephone, television, and so on) from the various terminal devices used (including fixed, mobile, and all kinds of terminals in the home) in accordance with their own needs. Computing models for Internet and entertainment.

The transparent computing system consists of terminal equipment, server and connection terminal equipment and server network.

The drawings show the composition of the transparent computing system. We can see that the ideal transparent calculation consists of three parts, one is the integration of the current PC, PDA, smart phones, digital appliances, such as light weight equipment transparent client; one is the integration of the current network equipment and interconnected equipment transparent network; the last one is the integration of a large number of strong computational capacity or strong general personal computer, Transparent servers, mainframes, etc. In general, transparent computing is built on a wider range of physical devices, with a more flexible operating environment.

Under the transparent computing platform, we refer to the terminal equipment used in the transparent computing system as transparent client or transparent client, the servers in which are called transparent servers, and the network systems connecting terminal equipment and servers are called transparent networks.

A transparent client can be a bare metal without any software installed, or it can be a lightweight terminal with a partial core software platform.

Transparent server is a computing device with external memory, such as PC, PC server, high-end server, small machine, etc. Transparent server storage users need a variety of software and information resources, but also to complete the management and coordination of transparent computing systems, such as the various operating system core code scheduling, distribution and transmission, a variety of different software services to transparent client scheduling, distribution and transmission process management.

The connection between the transparent client and the server is done by a transparent network. A transparent network is a network system that adds a specific communication protocol based on the current common LAN or WAN. This kind of network system can be based on Ethernet, CATV, 802.11, IEEE 1394 transmission system, even based on 3G, 4G communication network.

Transparent calculation to solve the problem

The problem that the transparent computation solves is also the problem that the ubiquitous computation wants to solve, at the same time, it is also the application service object that the current cloud computing platform constructs. Specifically, these issues are as follows:

1. Transformation of service patterns. The current computer service mode is designed by software and hardware manufacturers to provide users with a unified, users can do some customization work within a limited range. This is a vendor-centric service model. Users can not freely select a variety of applications across the platform, but also can not fully implement the personalized mode of use. Transparent computing, to achieve a user-centric service model, restore the user's dominant position. Users can choose and use various software services freely through various platforms, and realize the Software as service (Saas,software as a).

2. Harmonious coexistence and universal access of various operating systems. In a transparent computing system, support for a variety of operating systems and applications can coexist (run) on the same hardware platform. This is also the problem that virtual Machine technology is trying to solve. Second, in a transparent computing system, it is also possible to achieve universal access to a wide range of operating systems and applications, that is, to enable access to the same operating system and application environment on different hardware platforms that are customized to the user.

3. Openness of technology. Technology opening is also to solve the problem of harmonious coexistence of various operating systems. To solve this problem, we need to develop and develop a standard interface and interaction protocol between hardware and software, shielding the heterogeneity and diversity of the underlying hardware and software, so that the operating systems and applications of different vendors can be integrated and run on a unified standard platform. SOA (service-oriented architecture) architecture is an effective way to achieve technology openness so that software services developed by different vendors can be integrated across platforms.

4. Transparency of technology. Technical transparency focuses on the ease of use. There are two main aspects of meaning: one is transparent to the user, that is, users do not care about and understand the various details of the technology, just care about its use, and maintain the past experience; the second is transparent to the various operating systems and applications running on a transparent computing platform, That is, various operating systems and application software do not care about and consider the various technologies of the transparent computing platform. Various operating systems and applications can run directly on the platform without any modifications or modifications. For operating systems and applications, running on a transparent computing platform, like running on a typical computer platform, does not have any difference, regardless of the location of the server, instructions and data storage and transmission methods.

5. Safety. Security is a problem that must be considered when using the system. In order to realize real security from bottom to top in the present software and hardware platform, the model and technology of trusted computing (Trusted Computing) are proposed. In transparent computing, it is also necessary to solve the security of computation and data, and to achieve trusted computing and data services.

The transparent computing platform of Tsinghua University's computer system uses Intel EFI technology to develop next-generation products that can achieve transparent computing patterns. The prototype system has now been developed, and the prototype was demonstrated on the Intel IDF this April. If the product is successful in industrialization, it will greatly expand the performance of the machine and the scope of application of the product, and construct a new cloud computing platform with a wide range of applications.