P2P-RMI : Transparent Distribution of Remote Java Objects

Abstract

Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) is a built-in and easy-to-use framework for the distribution of remote Java objects. Its simplicity and seamless inter-virtual machine communication has made it a valuable tool for distributed services. It nevertheless exhibits certain constraints that practically limit RMI applications to the classical client/server distribution model, and make highly distributed and highly dynamic systems very difficult to build atop RMI.<br /><br />We present an approach that makes Java RMI usable for P2P and similar distribution models. The solution basically consists of three ideas: (1) separate the location of the registry from the remote service object, (2) distribute the registry across a DHT infrastructure, and (3) transparently enhance the built-in communication between RMI servers and clients to allow traversal of NAT and firewall boundaries. Our approach is extremely lightweight, transparent, and requires practically zero configuration.