SPINEware - a framework for user-oriented and tailorable metacomputers

Computing networks in enterprises are rapidly growing not only in capacity but also in complexity. The users usually get faced with networking details and with a variety of heterogeneous computing systems. In the present pape r, we present SPINEware as a facility for reducing the complexity of comput er network usage. SPINEware is a facility that supports the development of working environments on top of existing computer networks. Such working env ironment reveals itself to the user as a powerful and easy-to-use single ap plication environment - a metacomputer - providing uniform and network-tran sparent access to the resources and applications available from the compute r network. To further reduce the complexity, SPINEware-based metacomputers may be tailored for particular end users and application areas. (C) 1999 El sevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.