Research Overview

Given the constraints related to power, intermittent connectivity, and cost of developing regions, applications can be well-served to take advantage of a multi-level system architecture. This allows a core data center or set of data centers to provide centralized reliable storage and permanent network connectivity for applications distributed throughout the network. Then per-village or per-user proxy servers and devices can function as data caches to improve network access to shared data.

Prototype deployment for syndicating radio station content in Guinea Bissau. See the TierStore Guinea Bissau Radio page for more information.

Projects

• DTWiki: An Intermittency and Disconnection Tolerant Wiki

TierStore: Distributed Storage System and Application Framework

To assist and enable application development for this architecture, we are developing a storage system and API to ease the burden of application development under the above mentioned constraints. Applications written within the TierStore framework can leverage a common system for data synchronization that handles network outages as well as resolving data conflicts arising from network partitions.

Software Releases

The page for each version contains source code downloads, release notes and user guide. Bugs and support questions should be referred to the contact e-mail below. Releases will be done on a weekly basis until the code stabilizes significantly.

• 7/12/2007 - Version 1.1
• 6/29/2007 - Version 0.9

Contact: support mailing list for reporting bugs/support information.