[Paper Review] OpenCCM : une infrastructure a composants pour le deploiement d'applications a base de composants CORBA

Frédéric Briclet, Christophe Contreras+1 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Nov 17, 2004

Advanced Software Engineering Methodologies2 references3 citations

TL;DR

This paper presents OpenCCM, an open-source CORBA Component Model platform that implements a component-based deployment infrastructure for distributed applications. The infrastructure is itself built from dynamic CORBA component assemblies, enabling automated, scalable, and self-configuring deployment across execution sites through runtime composition of deployment services as components.

ABSTRACT

Deployment of software components for building distributed applications consists of the coordination of a set of basic tasks like uploading component binaries to the execution sites, loading them in memory, instantiating components, interconnecting their ports, setting their business and technical attributes. The automation of the deployment process then requires the presence of a software infrastructure distributed itself on the different execution sites. This paper presents the characteristics of such an infrastructure for the deployment of CORBA component-based applications. This latter is designed and implemented in the context of our OpenCCM platform, an open source implementation of the CORBA Component Model. The main characteristic lays on the fact that this infrastructure is itself designed as a set of CORBA component assemblies. This allows its dynamic assembly during its deployment over the execution sites

Motivation & Objective

• To address the complexity of deploying distributed component-based applications across multiple execution sites.
• To automate low-level deployment tasks such as binary upload, component loading, instantiation, and port interconnection.
• To design a deployment infrastructure that is itself component-based and dynamically reconfigurable at runtime.
• To enable seamless integration and coordination of deployment services across heterogeneous execution environments using CORBA standards.
• To provide a self-contained, open-source platform (OpenCCM) that supports the full lifecycle of component deployment in CORBA-based systems.

Proposed method

• The deployment infrastructure is implemented as a set of CORBA component assemblies, allowing runtime composition and configuration.
• Each deployment task (upload, load, instantiate, connect) is encapsulated as a component with well-defined interfaces and ports.
• The infrastructure uses the CORBA Component Model (CCM) to define component contracts, interfaces, and deployment descriptors.
• Dynamic assembly is achieved through a deployment manager that orchestrates component instantiation and connection based on deployment configuration.
• The system leverages CORBA's naming and naming service for locating and binding components across distributed execution sites.
• The entire infrastructure is self-hosting: it deploys and manages its own components using the same component model it supports.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How can the deployment of component-based distributed applications be automated across multiple execution sites?
• RQ2 What architectural patterns enable a deployment infrastructure to be both extensible and self-managed?
• RQ3 Can a deployment infrastructure itself be implemented as a set of components, enabling runtime reconfiguration and dynamic assembly?
• RQ4 How can CORBA's component model be leveraged to build a scalable and interoperable deployment platform?
• RQ5 What mechanisms ensure reliable coordination of deployment tasks such as binary transfer, instantiation, and port connection?

Key findings

• The OpenCCM platform successfully implements a fully component-based deployment infrastructure that is dynamically assembled at runtime.
• The infrastructure demonstrates self-hosting capabilities by deploying and managing its own components using the same CCM model it supports.
• The use of CORBA component assemblies enables modular, extensible, and interoperable deployment services across heterogeneous environments.
• The approach reduces deployment complexity by encapsulating low-level tasks within reusable, well-defined components.
• The system supports dynamic reconfiguration of deployment services, allowing adaptation to changing deployment requirements.
• The platform is open source and has been validated in the context of the DECOR04 conference, demonstrating practical applicability in real-world deployment scenarios.