Princeton University
Publication Info
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Network Systems Group Princeton University Publication Info |
Experience-Driven Experimental Systems Research
PlanetLab is a global platform for experimentally evaluating wide-area network services. This makes PlanetLab an interesting experimental system at two levels: (1) it enables experimentation with new services at scale, and (2) PlanetLab is itself an experimental wide-area hosting service. The main lesson of our experience with PlanetLab and the services it hosts is that it is only through building, deploying, and {\it using} experimental systems that we understand the important issues that influence their design. This paper explores the value of stressing experimental systems with real users in the context of two specific cases: PlanetLab itself, and the suite of services developed as part of the CoDeeN project. The paper is organized around three main themes: (1) using a system exposes implicit assumptions that lead to new research opportunities, (2) real systems often involve balancing competing objectives rather than optimizing along a single dimension, and (3) simple systems that scale ``well enough'' and are robust are better than more complicated systems that require fragile coordination mechanisms.
Communications of the ACM
Vol. 50, No. 11 (November 2007), pages 38-44.