This paper describes the implementation of network Mach IPC optimized for clusters of processors connected by a fast network, such as workstations connected by an Ethernet or processors in a non-shared memory multiprocessor. This work contrasts with earlier work, such as the net msg server, which has emphasized connectivity (by using robust and widely available protocols such as TCP/IP) and configurability (with an entirely user-state implementation) at the expense of performance.

The issues addressed by this work are support for low latency delivery of small and large messages, support for port capabilities and reference counting, and integration with the existing local Mach IPC implementation. Low latency for small messages requires careful buffer and control flow management; this work is compared with other fast RPC work described in the literature. Low latency for large messages, particularly for faster networks, requires an avoidance of copying, which can be achieved through virtual memory support; the modifications that were necessary to make Mach's virtual memory support inexpensive enough to be useful for this purpose is described. The distributed implementation of port capabilities, port reference counts, and port migration is discussed, and compared with that in the netmsg server. Finally, performance data is presented to quantify the speedup achieved with the described implementation.