[R] R as a server in client server computing

[Jens Oehlschlägel-Akiyoshi]

Hi Duncan,

thanks asking for more infos which might help answering my question. Here we
go:

> a) what platforms are the client and server running on?

for the server I can choose between NT and LINUX,
  for performance reasons I tend to prefer LINUX
  also I tend to prefer CORBA over DCOM
for the client NT and LINUX

> b) what language is the client written in?
>    Is it R <-> R communication? or
>    C <-> R
>    Java, Python, Perl, ... <-> R

most likely C++

> c) Is the set of data types and functionality known at the development
> time of the client, or will it evolve? or is a quasi-generic
> interface to
> R more likely?

sending data.frames (and may be atomic vectors) would be sufficient

> d) How stable are the design and implementation plans and is it likely
> that you will chose different languages for the client.

well, it's an idea yet

> e) If you were to use the socket interface, what would the content of
> the data communication look like?  XDR, the raw ASCII dump, XML?

I have no idea, but performance is an issue

>  One of the good things about the CORBA and DCOM approaches is that
> while there is an up-front cost of configuration and installation
> (which is not really prohibitive), one then avoids low-level details
> of communication and can leverage tools to query the current state of
> the system.  This is especially important when things aren't working,
> especially in the early stages. Debugging in a distributed environment
> is perhaps the most challenging aspect of this entire endeavor and the
> higher the level each node in the communication, the better.
>
>
>  Perhaps if you suggest likely answers for a) - e), it might
> help to narrow the focus.

Do you have any recommendation with these specifications?
Regards


Jens

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