Toward a scalable architecture for logistical management of active content

In this paper we analyze the problem of creating digital library services for "active content" (e.g. adaptive video, interactive visualization) that can scale. We describe how this challenge can be addressed by technologies based on logistical networking, an innovative approach to communication infrastructure that combines bandwidth and storage in a way that supports the flexible co-scheduling of data transport and data storage. Two technologies are central: the portable channel representation (PCR), which embodies an abstract model of the server in order to support the automated mirroring of DL services on a heterogeneous infrastructure, and the Internet backplane protocol (IBP), which provides a primitive network storage service that achieves both scalability and strong management of data locality while conforming to the Internet\´s "end-to-end" design principles. We argue that this approach can lead to a DL service architecture for active content that will scale up just as the guiding vision of the DL community requires - to millions of users, distributed around the globe in diverse organizational environments.