Single system image: A survey

Single system image is a computing paradigm where a number of distributed computing resources are aggregated and presented via an interface that maintains the illusion of interaction with a single system. This approach encompasses decades of research using a broad variety of techniques at varying levels of abstraction, from custom hardware and distributed hypervisors to specialized operating system kernels and user-level tools. Existing classification schemes for SSI technologies are reviewed, and an updated classification scheme is proposed. A survey of implementation techniques is provided along with relevant examples. Notable deployments are examined and insights gained from hands-on experience are summarized. Issues affecting the adoption of kernel-level SSI are identified and discussed in the context of technology adoption literature. •We provide a retrospective survey of single system image.•There has been novel recent work in the area of distributed hypervisors.•Despite a peak in interest in the 2000s, kernel-level SSI has not been widely adopted.•There may be a role in the future for virtualized kernel-level SSI clusters.