DUNIX: Distributed operating systems education via experimentation

Abstract

Numerous distributed operating systems have been proposed in the literature, some of which have developed into commercial systems. Unfortunately, the educational arena has not kept up-to-date with these developments. Currently, little educational emphasis has focussed on experimental distributed operating systems. Furthermore, only a few systems have been developed as a tool to teach distributed systems, and those that were, are basically skeleton systems, and not complete. DUNIX is a fully operational, complete, distributed operating system. The DUNIX kernel is intentionally small, modular, and simple, thus is easily understood and modified. A powerful interactive kernel debugger available in DUNIX, enables students to easily observe and modify the system. Thus, experimentation with an actual system is possible. A sample session that illustrates the salient features of DUNIX, in terms of laboratory experimentation is presented.