Peer services networks - distributed P2P middleware

Massively distributed peer-to-peer (P2P) computing systems offer unprecedented levels of computing power. However there is no widely used peer interface and as a result many P2P systems have been developed to support specific services. This paper proposes a P2P middleware architecture that directly supports the formation of service networks based on secure interconnections between peers. The P2P middleware integrates with existing systems by providing transport of standard I/O streams over the P2P network and secure execution of process on remote peers. The P2P middleware supports a d-shell or distributed shell for transparently distributing commands. A limited prototype system has been developed using Java and tested by implementing a surface rendering service using a “brute force” technique as a proof of concept and to illustrate the usefulness of the system.