Challenges and Considerations in Developing and Architecting Large-Scale Distributed Systems

This paper investigates large-scale distributed system design. It looks at features, main design considerations and provides the Netflix API, Cassandra and Oracle as examples of such systems. Moreover, the paper investigates the challenges of designing, developing, deploying, and maintaining such systems, in regard to the features presented. Finally, the paper discusses aspects of available solutions and current practices to challenges that large-scale distributed systems face.

Observer-based dynamic event-triggered control for distributed parameter systems over mobile sensor-plus-actuator networks

We develop a policy of observer-based dynamic event-triggered state feedback control for distributed parameter systems over a mobile sensor-plus-actuator network.It is assumed that the mobile sensing devices that provide spatially averaged state measurements can be used to improve state estimation in the network.For the purpose of decreasing the update frequency of controller and unnecessary sampled data transmission, an efficient dynamic event-triggered control policy is constructed.In an event-triggered system, when an error signal exceeds a specified time-varying threshold, it indicates the occurrence of a typical event.The global asymptotic stability of the event-triggered closed-loop system and the boundedness of the minimum inter-event time can be guaranteed.Based on the linear quadratic optimal regulator, the actuator selects the optimal displacement only when an event occurs.A simulation example is finally used to verify that the effectiveness of such a control strategy can enhance the system performance.

Providing Global Awareness in Distributed Dynamic Systems

The paper investigates applicability of the developed high-level model and technology for solution of diverse problems in large distributed dynamic systems which can provide sufficient awareness of their structures,organization,and functionalities.After the review of meanings of awareness and existing approaches for its expression and support,the paper shows application of the Spatial Grasp Model and Technology(SGT)and its basic Spatial Grasp Language(SGL)for very practical awareness solutions in large distributed dynamic systems,with obtaining any knowledge from any point inside or outside the system.The self-evolving,self-replicating,and self-recovering scenario code in SGL can effectively supervise distributed systems under any circumstances including rapidly changing number of their elements.Examples are provided in SGL for distributed networked systems showing how in any node any information about other nodes and links,including the whole system,can be obtained by using network requesting patterns based on recursive scenarios combining forward and backward network matching and coverage.The returned results may be automatically organized in networked patterns too.The presented exemplary solutions are parallel and fully distributed,without the need of using vulnerable centralized resources,also very compact.This can be explained by fundamentally different philosophy and ideology of SGT which is not based on traditional partitioned systems representation and multiple agent communications.On the contrary,SGT and its basic language supervise and control distributed systems by holistic self-spreading recursive code in wavelike,virus-like,and even“soul-like”mode.

A Novel High-Efficiency Transaction Verification Scheme for Blockchain Systems

Blockchain can realize the reliable storage of a large amount of data that is chronologically related and verifiable within the system.This technology has been widely used and has developed rapidly in big data systems across various fields.An increasing number of users are participating in application systems that use blockchain as their underlying architecture.As the number of transactions and the capital involved in blockchain grow,ensuring information security becomes imperative.Addressing the verification of transactional information security and privacy has emerged as a critical challenge.Blockchain-based verification methods can effectively eliminate the need for centralized third-party organizations.However,the efficiency of nodes in storing and verifying blockchain data faces unprecedented challenges.To address this issue,this paper introduces an efficient verification scheme for transaction security.Initially,it presents a node evaluation module to estimate the activity level of user nodes participating in transactions,accompanied by a probabilistic analysis for all transactions.Subsequently,this paper optimizes the conventional transaction organization form,introduces a heterogeneous Merkle tree storage structure,and designs algorithms for constructing these heterogeneous trees.Theoretical analyses and simulation experiments conclusively demonstrate the superior performance of this scheme.When verifying the same number of transactions,the heterogeneous Merkle tree transmits less data and is more efficient than traditional methods.The findings indicate that the heterogeneous Merkle tree structure is suitable for various blockchain applications,including the Internet of Things.This scheme can markedly enhance the efficiency of information verification and bolster the security of distributed systems.

Scalable and adaptive log manager in distributed systems

On-line transaction processing(OLTP)systems rely on transaction logging and quorum-based consensus protocol to guarantee durability,high availability and strong consistency.This makes the log manager a key component of distributed database management systems(DDBMSs).The leader of DDBMSs commonly adopts a centralized logging method to writing log entries into a stable storage device and uses a constant log replication strategy to periodically synchronize its state to followers.With the advent of new hardware and high parallelism of transaction processing,the traditional centralized design of logging limits scalability,and the constant trigger condition of replication can not always maintain optimal performance under dynamic workloads.In this paper,we propose a new log manager named Salmo with scalable logging and adaptive replication for distributed database systems.The scalable logging eliminates centralized contention by utilizing a highly concurrent data structure and speedy log hole tracking.The kernel of adaptive replication is an adaptive log shipping method,which dynamically adjusts the number of log entries transmitted between leader and followers based on the real-time workload.We implemented and evaluated Salmo in the open-sourced transaction processing systems Cedar and DBx1000.Experimental results show that Salmo scales well by increasing the number of working threads,improves peak throughput by 1.56×and reduces latency by more than 4×over log replication of Raft,and maintains efficient and stable performance under dynamic workloads all the time.

An Assignment Method for IPUs in Distributed Systems

In a distributed system, one of the most important things is to establish an assignment method for distributing tasks. It is assumed that a dis tributed system does not have a central administrator, all independent processing units in this system want to cooperate for the best results, but they cannot know the conditions of one another. So in order to undertake the tasks in admirable pro portions, they have to adjust their undertaking tasks only by self-learning. In this paper, the performance of this system is analyzed by Markov chains, and a robust method of self-learning for independent processing units in this kind of systems is presented. This method can lead the tasks of the system to be distributed very well among all the independent processing units, and can also be used to solve the general assignment problem.

Performance Improvement of Distributed Systems by Autotuning of the Configuration Parameters

The performance of distributed computing systems is partially dependent on configuration parameters recorded in configuration files. Evolutionary strategies, with their ability to have a global view of the structural information, have been shown to effectively improve performance. However, most of these methods consume too much measurement time. This paper introduces an ordinal optimization based strategy combined with a back propagation neural network for autotuning of the configuration parameters. The strat- egy was first proposed in the automation community for complex manufacturing system optimization and is customized here for improving distributed system performance. The method is compared with the covariance matrix algorithm. Tests using a real distributed system with three-tier servers show that the strategy reduces the testing time by 40% on average at a reasonable performance cost.

A Theory for the Initial Allocating of Real Time Tasks in Distributed Systems

Referring to a set of real time tasks with arriving time,executing time and deadline,this paperdiscusses the problem of polynomial time initial-allocating approximation algorithms in a distributedsystem and five new results are gained which provide a theory for the designing of initial-allocating algorithmsof real time tasks.

Regional constrained control problem for a class of semilinear distributed systems

The aim of this paper is to investigate a regional constrained optimal control problem for a class of semi[inear distributed systems, which are linear in the control but nonlinear in the state. For a quadratic cost functional and a closed convex set of admissible controls, the existence of an optimal control is proven, and then this is characterized for three cases of constraints. A useful algorithm is developed, and the approach is illustrated through simulations for a heat equation.

Mobile agent-enabled framework for structuring and building distributed systems on the internet

Mobile agent has shown its promise as a powerful means to complement and enhance existing technology in various application areas. In particular, existing work has demonstrated that MA can simplify the development and improve the performance of certain classes of distributed applications, especially for those running on a wide-area, heterogeneous, and dynamic networking environment like the Internet. In our previous work, we extended the application of MA to the design of distributed control functions, which require the maintenance of logical relationship among and/or coordination of processing entities in a distributed system. A novel framework is presented for structuring and building distributed systems, which use cooperating mobile agents as an aid to carry out coordination and cooperation tasks in distributed systems. The framework has been used for designing various distributed control functions such as load balancing and mutual ex- clusion in our previous work. In this paper, we use the framework to propose a novel approach to detecting deadlocks in distributed system by using mobile agents, which demonstrates the advantage of being adaptive and flexible of mobile agents. We first describe the MAEDD （Mobile Agent Enabled Deadlock Detection） scheme, in which mobile agents are dispatched to collect and analyze deadlock information distributed across the network sites and, based on the analysis, to detect and resolve deadlocks. Then the design of an adaptive hybrid algorithm derived from the framework is presented. The algorithm can dynamically adapt itself to the changes in system state by using different deadlock detection strategies. The performance of the proposed algorithm has been evaluated using simulations. The results show that the algorithm can outperform existing algorithms that use a fixed deadlock detection strategy.

Distributed Adaptive Cooperative Tracking of Uncertain Nonlinear Fractional-order Multi-agent Systems

In this paper, the leader-following tracking problem of fractional-order multi-agent systems is addressed. The dynamics of each agent may be heterogeneous and has unknown nonlinearities. By assumptions that the interaction topology is undirected and connected and the unknown nonlinear uncertain dynamics can be parameterized by a neural network, an adaptive learning law is proposed to deal with unknown nonlinear dynamics, based on which a kind of cooperative tracking protocols are constructed. The feedback gain matrix is obtained to solve an algebraic Riccati equation. To construct the fully distributed cooperative tracking protocols, the adaptive law is also adopted to adjust the coupling weight. With the developed control laws,we can prove that all signals in the closed-loop systems are guaranteed to be uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, a simple simulation example is provided to illustrate the established result.

Improved control of distributed parameter systems using wireless sensor and actuator networks:An observer-based method

In this paper,the control problem of distributed parameter systems is investigated by using wireless sensor and actuator networks with the observer-based method.Firstly,a centralized observer which makes use of the measurement information provided by the fixed sensors is designed to estimate the distributed parameter systems.The mobile agents,each of which is affixed with a controller and an actuator,can provide the observer-based control for the target systems.By using Lyapunov stability arguments,the stability for the estimation error system and distributed parameter control system is proved,meanwhile a guidance scheme for each mobile actuator is provided to improve the control performance.A numerical example is finally used to demonstrate the effectiveness and the advantages of the proposed approaches.

Sliding mode control of uncertain systems with distributed time-delay: parameter-dependent Lyapunov functional approach

The robust stability and robust sliding mode control problems are studied for a class of linear distributed time-delay systems with polytopic-type uncertainties by applying the parameter-dependent Lyapunov functional approach combining with a new method of introducing some relaxation matrices and tuning parameters, which can be chosen properly to lead to a less conservative result. First, a sufficient condition is proposed for robust stability of the autonomic system; next, the sufficient conditions of the robust stabilization controller and the existence condition of sliding mode are developed. The results are given in terms of linear matrix inequalities （LMIs）, which can be solved via efficient interior-point algorithms. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the feasibility and advantages of the proposed design scheme.

Improved control for distributed parameter systems with time-dependent spatial domains utilizing mobile sensor-actuator networks

A guidance policy for controller performance enhancement utilizing mobile sensor-actuator networks （MSANs） is proposed for a class of distributed parameter systems （DPSs）, which are governed by diffusion partial differential equations （PDEs） with time-dependent spatial domains. Several sufficient conditions for controller performance enhancement are presented. First, the infinite dimensional operator theory is used to derive an abstract evolution equation of the systems under some rational assumptions on the operators, and a static output feedback controller is designed to control the spatial process. Then, based on Lyapunov stability arguments, guidance policies for collocated and non-collocated MSANs are provided to enhance the performance of the proposed controller, which show that the time-dependent characteristic of the spatial domains can significantly affect the design of the mobile scheme. Finally, a simulation example illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed policy.

Cyber-Physical Systems as General Distributed Parameter Systems:Three Types of Fractional Order Models and Emerging Research Opportunities

Cyber-physical systems(CPSs) are man-made complex systems coupled with natural processes that, as a whole,should be described by distributed parameter systems(DPSs) in general forms. This paper presents three such general models for generalized DPSs that can be used to characterize complex CPSs. These three different types of fractional operators based DPS models are: fractional Laplacian operator, fractional power of operator or fractional derivative. This research investigation is motivated by many fractional order models describing natural, physical, and anomalous phenomena, such as sub-diffusion process or super-diffusion process. The relationships among these three different operators are explored and explained. Several potential future research opportunities are then articulated followed by some conclusions and remarks.

Locally Minimum Storage Regenerating Codes in Distributed Cloud Storage Systems

In distributed cloud storage systems, inevitably there exist multiple node failures at the same time. The existing methods of regenerating codes, including minimum storage regenerating(MSR) codes and minimum bandwidth regenerating(MBR) codes, are mainly to repair one single or several failed nodes, unable to meet the repair need of distributed cloud storage systems. In this paper, we present locally minimum storage regenerating(LMSR) codes to recover multiple failed nodes at the same time. Specifically, the nodes in distributed cloud storage systems are divided into multiple local groups, and in each local group(4, 2) or(5, 3) MSR codes are constructed. Moreover, the grouping method of storage nodes and the repairing process of failed nodes in local groups are studied. Theoretical analysis shows that LMSR codes can achieve the same storage overhead as MSR codes. Furthermore, we verify by means of simulation that, compared with MSR codes, LMSR codes can reduce the repair bandwidth and disk I/O overhead effectively.

Optimal switching policy for performance enhancement of distributed parameter systems based on event-driven control

This paper aims to improve the performance of a class of distributed parameter systems for the optimal switching of actuators and controllers based on event-driven control. It is assumed that in the available multiple actuators, only one actuator can receive the control signal and be activated over an unfixed time interval, and the other actuators keep dormant. After incorporating a state observer into the event generator, the event-driven control loop and the minimum inter-event time are ultimately bounded. Based on the event-driven state feedback control, the time intervals of unfixed length can be obtained. The optimal switching policy is based on finite horizon linear quadratic optimal control at the beginning of each time subinterval. A simulation example demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed policy.

A MAXIMUM PRINCIPLE FOR DISTRIBUTED PARAMETER SYSTEMS WITH MIXED PHASE-CONTROL CONSTRAINTS ANDENDPOINT CONSTRAINTS

This paper considered the optimal control problem for distributed parameter systems with mixed phase-control constraints and end-point constraints. Pontryagin's maximum principle for optimal control are derived via Duboviskij-Milujin theorem.

Control synthesis of linear distributed parameter switched systems

The control synthesis for switched systems is extended to distributed parameter switched systems in Hilbert space. Based on semigroup and operator theory, by means of multiple Lyapunov method incorporated average dwell time approach, sufficient con- ditions are derived in terms of linear operator inequalities frame- work for distributed parameter switched systems. Being applied to one dimensional heat propagation switched systems, these lin- ear operator inequalities are reduced to linear matrix inequalities subsequently. In particular, the state feedback gain matrices and the switching law are designed, and the state decay estimate is explicitly given whose decay coefficient completely depends on the system＇s parameter and the boundary condition. Finally, two numerical examples are given to illustrate the proposed method.

Weak Serializable Concurrency Control in Distributed Real-Time Database Systems

Most of the proposed concurrency control protocols for real time database systems are based on serializability theorem. Owing to the unique characteristics of real time database applications and the importance of satisfying the timing constraints of transactions, serializability is too strong as a correctness criterion and not suitable for real time databases in most cases. On the other hand, relaxed serializability including epsilon serializability and similarity serializability can allow more real time transactions to satisfy their timing constraints, but database consistency may be sacrificed to some extent. We thus propose the use of weak serializability(WSR) that is more relaxed than conflicting serializability while database consistency is maintained. In this paper, we first formally define the new notion of correctness called weak serializability. After the necessary and sufficient conditions for weak serializability are shown, corresponding concurrency control protocol WDHP(weak serializable distributed high priority protocol) is outlined for distributed real time databases, where a new lock mode called mask lock mode is proposed for simplifying the condition of global consistency. Finally, through a series of simulation studies, it is shown that using the new concurrency control protocol the performance of distributed real time databases can be greatly improved.