The entropia virtual machine for desktop grids

Desktop distributed computing allows companies to exploit the idle cycles on pervasive desktop PC systems to increase the available computing power by orders of magnitude (10x - 1000x). Applications are submitted, distributed, and run on a grid of desktop PCs. Since the applications may be malformed, or malicious, the key challenges for a desktop grid are how to 1) prevent the distributed computing application from unwarranted access or modification of data and files on the desktop PC, 2) control the distributed computing application’s resource usage and behavior as it runs on the desktop PC, and 3) provide protection for the distributed application’s program and its data. In this paper we describe the Entropia Virtual Machine, and the solutions it embodies for each of these challenges. Categories and Subject Descriptors: D.4.7 [Organization and Design]: Distributed Systems, D.4.6 [Security and Protection]: Access Controls General Terms: Management and Security

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: VEE
• Authors: Brad Calder, Andrew A. Chien, Ju Wang, Don Yang
• Keywords: Desktop Pc, Distributed Computing, Pervasive Desktop Pc, VEE 2005, Virtualization