XtreemOS is a 4-year European research project, which aims to develop a grid operating system based on Linux to simplify the usage, management and programming of grids.
Computing grids allow organizations to significantly increase their computational power by connecting their computers together. However using, administrating and programming computing grids is highly complex as the shared resources are distributed, heterogeneous and independently administered and connected through networks with fluctuating performances. Tools developed for grid use, like the Globus Toolkit, are demanding and complex — especially because they are based on operating systems are not designed to manage distributed and versatile resources.
Partly funded by the sixth framework programme (FP6) of the European Commission, the XtreemOS project aims at building a reference open-source Grid operating system (OS). The 19 academic and industrial partners chose to base their research on Linux, as it is a popular, open and efficient operating system. An important goal is to make further improvements to simplify the management of Virtual Organizations (VOs), bringing together partners’ resources (to design an aircraft for example).
XtreemOS aims to define the necessary interfaces and services to make grids operational and to add functionalities to the Linux OS to simplify grid use (e.g. OS-level mechanisms for VO support, data and execution management services).
In FP6, European research projects are extended to countries outside the Europe Union. The Chinese partner ICT-CAS — a pioneer in VO management in existing operating systems — collaborates in the consortium, as well as Red Flag Software — Linux’s leading distributor in Asia — who will play a major role in promoting and pushing XtreemOS into the fast growing Asian markets.
Several industrial partners contribute to testing the OS by providing real-world applications. The experiments will initially be carried out on the French national grid experimental platform Grid’5000 (https://www.grid5000.fr/). We plan to extend the initial test bed to the grid in the Netherlands (DAS-3 – http://www.cs.vu.nl/pub/das3/) and to the Chinese grid (CNGrid – http://www.cngrid.org/).
An initial version of the XtreemOS operating system for PCs is planned to be distributed under open source licence after the first two years of the project (Spring 2008). The XtreemOS system will eventually be available for a wide range of hardware platforms: PCs, clusters and mobile devices (mobile phones, PDAs, etc.). The version of the XtreemOS system for clusters will be based on Kerrighed (http://www.kerrighed.org/), a Single System Image OS for clusters. The last two years of the project will be dedicated to the development of advanced features, with a focus on robustness and security of the system and the creation of a users’ community.
XtreemOS project – Key Figures:
Duration: 48 months
Starting date: June 1st 2006
Contract number: IST-033576
Funding: 30M€ (14,2M€ from the EC)
Scientific Coordinator: INRIA (France)
Administrative and Financial Coordinator: Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (France)
For further information, contact: xtreemos-info@listes.irisa.fr
To learn more about XtreemOS, visit our website http://www.xtreemos.eu/
The 1st newsletter is now available here: http://www.xtreemos.eu/publications/newsletter“
Link: xtreemos.eu
