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Brian Bartholomew (bb@wizard.pn.com)
Tue, 17 Sep 1996 18:27:00 -0400 

Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 18:27:00 -0400
Message-Id: <199609172227.SAA00411@auntiem.wv.com>
From: Brian Bartholomew <bb@wizard.pn.com>
Subject: Re: [mSQL] Mirroring msql databases

I found source in ftp://ftp.uu.net/networking/isis, but I'm not sure
how to reconcile the two readme's below.

----- README

ISIS - A Reliable Distributed Programming Toolkit [1 February 1986]

DESCRIPTION

The ISIS Distributed Programming Toolkit provides C and Fortran and
Lisp programmers with tools for developing reliable distributed
applications. ISIS implements a simple yet powerful model of
distributed computation called 'virtual synchrony' in which complex
distributed events appear to occur one-at-a-time, in synchrony. In
reality many events are happening concurrently, exploiting the
parallelism of the distributed computing environment.

ISIS consists of language libraries and utility software which uses the
TCP/IP, UDP protocols by default, and can be extended to use other
protocols (on MACH systems, ISIS uses MACH IPC for intra-machine
message passing by default). ISIS is available on a wide range of
Unix-compatible computers. The ISIS toolkit is in the public domain.

----- isis/ISIS_INFO.Z

This file contains information about obtaining the Isis system.

Isis was originally developed at Cornell University during the period
1985-1989, ending with a no-fee public release of the system in June of 1989.
This version of the system is no longer maintained, upgraded, supported,
or available by public FTP.

Isis is a toolkit for reliable distributed computing, and includes
a number of powerful applications, such as a fault-tolerant NFS file
server, a wide-area post/subscribe "news" system, a fault-tolerant version
of the Corba object-oriented programming model, and a network resource manager.
The system can be used from C, C++, SmallTalk, ADA, Fortran, Modula, and
other languages.

Starting in 1989, Isis was extended and reimplemented to create a
commercial product with the same name, but much better performance,
extended interfaces, and improved reliability and scalability. A great
number of end-user applications were layered over the system, and it
was ported from SunOS (where ISIS V2.1 was primarily used) to most
UNIX platforms, VMS, PC operating systems (NT, Windows), OS/9, and other
environments. The resulting product line is marketed by Isis Distributed
Systems, a subsidiary of Stratus Computer Inc. of Marlboro, MA.

Isis remains available at a very low academic fee, which covers usage
throughout even a large academic institution. The system is also widely
used for commercial applications, and is being agressively extended and
enhanced by Isis Distributed Systems. A follow-on system, called Horus,
recently became available and will also be commercialized by Isis Distributed
Systems Inc.

The best reference for work on Isis is a paper that appeared in the Dec.
1993 issue of Comm. of the ACM, also available as TR 1216.ps.Z in this
public FTP area. A book on Isis recently was published by IEEE Computer
Society Press, and is called "Using the Isis Toolkit for Reliable Distributed
Computing". A newsgroup for Isis users exists: comp.sys.isis. Current
Isis applications include a cross-section of some of the world's most
challenging and exciting distributed systems problems.

Email addresses for more information:
  * info@isis.com General information about Isis and how to get it
        Phone: 508-460-2170 (Rick Moran or Larry Sherman)
  * support@isis.com For support problems with commercial Isis
  * birman@cs.cornell.edu Ken Birman, who developed the system and now
        heads the Horus research group at Cornell. Birman is also Chief
        Scientist for Isis Distributed Systems, and has a second email,
        ken@isis.com. 607-255-9199
Publications list for Isis papers:
  isis-publications.ps.Z, in this public area

Back-postings to comp.sys.isis:
  comp.sys.isis/xxxx, in this public area

Isis version 2.1 is no longer distributed at Cornell, but copies can
still be obtained from other sources.

Ken Birman

Another member of the League for Programming Freedom (LPF) lpf@uunet.uu.net
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