Managing dependencies-a key problem in fault-tolerant distributed algorithms

As computing environments become increasingly distributed and modular, fault-tolerance algorithms have to catch up with the consequences. In particular, they often have to deal with the management of dynamically evolving dependencies. In this paper, we identify this as a basic problem for the design of fault-tolerance algorithms. Our approach to cope with this problem is the specification and realization of a distributed dependency-management system. Realized as a generic software tool, it can be used as a customizable component that eases the design and implementation of existing and future algorithms. Our approach comprises all relevant issues for the subject, which encompasses modeling, consistency considerations, a generic interface, algorithms, and implementation.