An analysis of distributed shared memory algorithms

Results obtained in a study of algorithms to implement a distributed-shared memory in a distributed (loosely coupled) environment are described. Distributed-shared memory is the implementation of shared memory across multiple nodes in a distributed system. This is accomplished using only the private memories of the nodes by controlling access to the pages of the shared memory and transferring data to and from the private memories when necessary. Alternative algorithms are analyzed to implement distributed-shared memory. The algorithms are analyzed and compared over a wide range of conditions. Application characteristics are identified which can be exploited by the algorithms. The conditions under which the algorithms analyzed perform better or worse than the other alternatives are shown. Results are obtained via simulation using a synthetic reference generator