Architectural Overview of DCE
OSF's Distributed Computing Environment is a layer between the operating system and network on the one hand, and the distributed application on the other. DCE provides the services that allow a distributed application to interact with a collection of possibly heterogeneous computers, operating systems, and networks as if they were a single system. The following figure shows DCE in relation to operating systems, network communications software, and applications software.
Layering of DCE and Related Software
Several technology components work together to implement the DCE layer. Many of these components provide in a distributed environment what an operating system provides in a centralized (single-node) environment.
The following figure shows the DCE architecture and its technology components, along with their relationship to applications, underlying system support, and placeholders for future technologies.
DCE Architecture
More:
Overview of DCE Technology Components
Integration of the DCE Technology Components
Relationship of DCE to Network and System Services