Extending a Traditional OS Using Object-Oriented Techniques.

This paper describes a new object infrastructure designed for tightly-coupled distributed systems. The infrastructure includes an object model, interface-to-C++ translator, an object request broker (ORB) based on the CORBA architecture model, and a transport layer. The infrastructure allows the use of multiple data marshalling handlers, includes object recovery features, and provides remote communication through a mechanism called xdoors. The object infrastructure has been used to extend the Solaris TM operating system into a prototype clustered operating system called Solaris MC. This illustrates how the CORBA object model can be used to extend an existing UNIX implementation into a distributed operating system. It also shows the advantages of defining strong kernel component interfaces in the IDL interface definition language. Finally, Solaris MC illustrates how C++ can be used for kernel development, coexisting with previous code.