A Classification of Disconnected Operation Techniques

Distributed, decentralized, and mobile systems are highly dependent on the underlying network. Due to network failures, these systems must address the problem of disconnected operation, i.e., continued functioning in the (near) absence of network accessibility. A number of approaches provide support for disconnected operation by employing different techniques. What is currently missing, however, is a general understanding of the applicability of these techniques to different kinds of software systems, and the manner in which they affect the overall system dependability. This paper strives to improve that understanding. We present a framework for classifying disconnected operation solutions and assess several representative approaches according to the proposed classification. This study highlights several pertinent areas that are currently not supported, that can help to motivate future work on this subject