/[gzz]/manuscripts/storm/short-paper.rst
ViewVC logotype

Diff of /manuscripts/storm/short-paper.rst

Parent Directory Parent Directory | Revision Log Revision Log | View Patch Patch

revision 1.10 by benja, Thu May 29 20:11:24 2003 UTC revision 1.11 by benja, Thu May 29 22:58:31 2003 UTC
# Line 8  Abstract Line 8  Abstract
8  Linking personal documents like we link Web pages is inconvenient  Linking personal documents like we link Web pages is inconvenient
9  enough that users rarely ever do it. A major reason is that  enough that users rarely ever do it. A major reason is that
10  links break when documents are moved around or sent by mail.  links break when documents are moved around or sent by mail.
11  We argue that while non-breaking links would be a convenience  
12  on the Web, they are a necessity for making Web-like hyperlinks  .. We argue that while non-breaking links would be a convenience
13  useful on the local desktop.     on the Web, they are a necessity for making Web-like hyperlinks
14       useful on the local desktop.
15    
16  We propose Storm, a storage system identifying documents by  We propose Storm, a storage system identifying documents by
17  cryptographic hashes and signatures, independently of their  cryptographic hashes and signatures, independently of their
# Line 28  through an HTTP gateway. Line 29  through an HTTP gateway.
29    
30  .. raw:: latex  .. raw:: latex
31    
32     \category{H.5.4}{Information Interfaces and Presentation}{Hy\-per\-text/Hy\-permedia}[architectures]     %\category{H.5.4}{Information Interfaces and Presentation}{Hy\-per\-text/Hy\-permedia}[architectures]
33     \category{H.3.4}{Information Storage and Re\-trie\-val}{Systems and Software}[distributed systems, information networks]     \category{H.3.4}{Information Storage and Re\-trie\-val}{Systems and Software}[distributed systems, information networks]
34    
35     \terms{Design, Reliability, Performance}     \terms{Design, Reliability, Performance}
36    
37     \keywords{versioned hypermedia, dangling links,     \keywords{dangling links,
38     peer-to-peer, location-independent identifiers}     peer-to-peer, location-independent identifiers}
39    
40    
# Line 45  Introduction Line 46  Introduction
46    
47  Bush's Memex [XXX] was to be a hypermedia device  Bush's Memex [XXX] was to be a hypermedia device
48  for personal use, not for hypermedia publication.  for personal use, not for hypermedia publication.
49    
50  Yet, while many Web pages are densely interlinked today,  Yet, while many Web pages are densely interlinked today,
51  desktop documents still have rarely any hypermedia  desktop documents still have rarely any hypermedia
52  functionality. Even though documents written with  functionality. Even though documents written with
53  OpenOffice.org or Microsoft Word can nowadays be  Microsoft Word or OpenOffice.org can nowadays be
54  linked just like HTML files, users almost never  linked just like HTML files, users almost never
55  do so.  do so.
56    
# Line 63  from such functionality. Line 65  from such functionality.
65  .. links needed that don't break when documents are moved:  .. links needed that don't break when documents are moved:
66    
67  We believe that a major burden to hypermedia  We believe that a major burden to hypermedia
68  on the desktop is that links break when documents  on the desktop is breaking links.
 are published, moved between folders, or sent by email.  
   
69  When sending a couple of hyperlinked notes per  When sending a couple of hyperlinked notes per
70  mail, the receiver would have to assemble them  mail, the receiver would have to assemble them
71  into the sender's directory structure. A document  into the sender's directory structure. A document
# Line 86  computer can find the linked document-- Line 86  computer can find the linked document--
86  harddisk, attached to another email, or on the  harddisk, attached to another email, or on the
87  public Internet.  public Internet.
88    
89  .. structure of this paper:  .. contribution of this paper:
90    
91    This document describes Storm, a library for
92    storing and retrieving data using
93    location-independent Uniform Resource Names [XXX].
94    
95    
96  Related work  Related work
97  ============  ============
98    
 Systems like Lotus Notes [XXX], a popular database sharing  
 and collaboration tool, use location-independent,  
 global identifiers to refer to documents.  
   
99  .. Freenet's cryptographical identifiers:  .. Freenet's cryptographical identifiers:
100    
101  Freenet [freenet-andalso-freenet-ieee]_, a peer-to-peer  Location-independent identifiers aren't a new idea.
102  anonymous publication system, uses cryptographic  In Freenet [freenet-ieee]_, an anonymous peer-to-peer
103  functions to generate location-independent identifiers.  publication system, *cryptographic hashes* [XXX]
104    are used to identify versions of documents. Hashes
105  In Freenet, identifiers for specific versions of documents are  are short, e.g. 20 bytes, yet it is extremely unlikely
106  generated by the use of a *collision-free cryptographic  that two different documents will ever have the same hash,
107  hash function* [XXX]. A hash function maps an arbitrary-length  making them ideal identifiers on the Web.
108  input to a short, fixed-length output, e.g. 20 bytes.  
109    Hashes allow reference to a single version of a
110  Hash functions are collision-free if it is  document. Documents are refered to by public keys [XXX].
111  mathematically extremely unlikely that two documents  The private key corresponding to a document's public key
112  will ever be mapped to the same hash, making them  can update the document by digitally signing a new version
113  ideal to identify documents on the Web.  of it.
   
 Documents are identified by a public key.  
 Versions of the documents are then  
 digitally signed [XXX]_ using the corresponding  
 private key.  
114    
115  However, finding a document on Freenet can be  However, finding a document on Freenet can be
116  quite slow, taking many seconds. This is not  quite slow, taking many seconds. This is not
# Line 140  is not possible on a global scale. Line 135  is not possible on a global scale.
135  However, recent developments in peer-to-peer systems have  However, recent developments in peer-to-peer systems have
136  rendered this assumption obsolete. Distributed hashtables  rendered this assumption obsolete. Distributed hashtables
137  (DHTs) and other structured overlay networks  (DHTs) and other structured overlay networks
138  [stoica01chord-andalso-ratnasamy01can-andalso-zhao01tapestry-andalso-rowston01pastry-andalso-maymounkov02kademlia-andalso-malkhi02viceroy-andalso-AspnesS2003-andalso-bonsma02swan]_  [AspnesS2003-andalso-bonsma02swan-andalso-malkhi02viceroy-andalso-maymounkov02kademlia-andalso-ratnasamy01can-andalso-rowston01pastry-andalso-stoica01chord-andalso-zhao01tapestry]_
139  allow location-independent identifiers  allow location-independent identifiers
140  to be resolved on a global scale.  to be resolved on a global scale.
141    
# Line 163  Storm Line 158  Storm
158    
159  .. a general storage system, using Freenet-like identifiers:  .. a general storage system, using Freenet-like identifiers:
160    
161    We are developing a library storing
162    documents on the desktop and publishing and retrieving
163    documents from the network.
164    Our system, Storm (for STORage Modules),
165    uses Freenet-like cryptographic identifiers.
166    
167  .. part of the web -- URN scheme (so far experimental,  .. part of the web -- URN scheme (so far experimental,
168     targetting registration):     targetting registration):
169    
170    We are using an experimental URN (Uniform Resource Name,
171    [XXX]) namespace and are preparing the registration
172    of an informal namespace with IANA. This allows our
173    system's identifiers to be used in Web hyperlinks.
174    
175  .. accessible through Java library or http gateway:  .. accessible through Java library or http gateway:
176    
177    Browsers and applications can access Storm either
178    by using the Java library directly or through an
179    HTTP gateway, which, given a Storm URN, finds and
180    returns the associated file. Documents can be
181    uploaded into Storm using HTTP PUT operations
182    on the gateway.
183    
184    .. Applications we are integrated with:
185    
186    Using the gateway, we have made the Konqueror
187    web browser as well as Netscape Navigator 4
188    understand Storm URNs. Using our extension, any
189    KDE application can load from and save to
190    Storm URNs. KDE automatically uploads changed
191    documents into Storm when the user hits "Save."
192    
193    .. OpenOffice can load from http gateway
194       (needs more complete WebDAV impl to save):
195    
196    The Emacs text editor doesn't understand Storm
197    URNs yet, but can load and save documents using
198    Storm through the HTTP gateway. OpenOffice.org
199    can load documents through the HTTP gateway,
200    but cannot save to it, because the gateway
201    does not support WebDAV.
202    
203  .. web interface for searching etc.  .. web interface for searching etc.
204    
205  - Konqueror and Netscape 4 understand Storm URNs  The HTTP gateway also provides a Web interface
206  - KDE programs can load from and save to Storm URNs  to Storm, giving the user a list of all documents
207  - emacs can load from and save to http gateway  stored on their local hard disk, and allows users
208  - OpenOffice can load from http gateway  to conduct searches over the titles of all documents
209    (needs more complete WebDAV impl to save)  published on the network.
210    
211    
212  Conclusions  Conclusions
# Line 186  Conclusions Line 218  Conclusions
218  Acknowledgements  Acknowledgements
219  ================  ================
220    
221    This work was funded by the Agora Center InBCT project.
222  We would like to thank Erno Kuusela, Sarah Stehlig,  We would like to thank Erno Kuusela, Sarah Stehlig,
223  Harri Oinas-Kukkonen and Jukka Honkela for  Harri Oinas-Kukkonen and Jukka Honkela for
224  comments and discussions.  comments and discussions.

Legend:
Removed from v.1.10  
changed lines
  Added in v.1.11

savannah-hackers-public@gnu.org
ViewVC Help
Powered by ViewVC 1.1.26