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The Design and Architecture of the Microsoft Cluster Service -- A Practical Approach to High-Availability and Scalability

Werner Vogels·Dan Dumitriu·Ken Birman·Rod Gamache·Mike Massa·Rob Short·John Vert·Joe Barrera
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Abstract

Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) extends the Win-dows NT operating system to support high-availability services. The goal is to offer an execution environment where off-the-shelf server applications can continue to operate, even in the presence of node failures. Later ver-sions of MSCS will provide scalability via a node and application management system that allows applications to scale to hundreds of nodes. This paper provides a de-tailed description of the MSCS architecture and the de-sign decisions that have driven the implementation of the service. The paper also describes how some major appli-cations use the MSCS features, and describes features added to make it easier to implement and manage fault-tolerant applications on MSCS.

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Werner Vogels, Dan Dumitriu, Ken Birman, Rod Gamache, Mike Massa, Rob Short, John Vert, Joe Barrera. 1998-09-02. The Design and Architecture of the Microsoft Cluster Service -- A Practical Approach to High-Availability and Scalability. https://arxiv.org/abs/cs/9809006

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