Towards a Pattern Language for Distributed Computing To provide continuity, one would like all of the examples drawn from the same application. However, to explore the scope of a pattern language, it is useful to draw examples from several different applications. I compromise by choosing two rather distinct applications---a data-processing oriented application of cable television advertising and a hardware-intensive, real-time flavored problem domain of a video server. (The video server is a ``box'' that has many disk-drive interfaces (SCSI standard) and many fiber interfaces (ATM SONET standard). The job of the video server is to play out movies stored in a digital format on the disks onto the appropriate fiber interface. In a typical application, the fiber interface carries 155 million bits per second (Mbps) and each movie plays out at a rate of 3 Mbps on a Virtual Channel.) I also draw examples from the application of telephony because that is the application I am most familiar with. Each example will begin with a header that indicates which of these three applications the example draws from. The examples also assume that the paper is being read in an expository manner in that the previous examples will have been read. Return to main body. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Last updated Thu Mar 23 12:27:02 CST 1995 cope@research.att.com Copyright Š1995 AT&T.