Industrial process control apparatus for controlling variables in an industrial process that change or refine raw materials to create end products, comprising: an electronic data communication channel; a plurality of compute nodes each connected to the communication channel, wherein at least one compute node implements a process control application; a sensor connected to the communication channel for providing electronic data representative of a physical value of the industrial process; an actuator connected to the communication channel for receiving electronic data representative of a manipulation of a physical value of the industrial process; and an executive node connected to the communication channel for initiating a transfer of at least a subset of the process control application among one or more other compute nodes via the communication channel, characterized in that the industrial process control apparatus comprises a central storage node providing a central data store, and in that the electronic data communication channel is connected to the central data store, wherein the executive node includes a control database and an application manager, wherein the executive node further includes an input/output (I/O) database comprising an I/O application dataset with all data required for migrating the process control application from one compute node to another compute node, and wherein at least one compute node implements an I/O application configured to control electronic data transmission and reception between the communication channel and the sensor and the actuator, wherein the at least one compute node implementing the process control application stores a current state and intermediate data associated with the process control application in the control database, wherein the application manager detects a failure of the at least one compute node implementing the process control application, and wherein the application manager initiates a transfer of the current state and the intermediate data from the control database to at least one other compute node in response to the detected failure, wherein at least one of the compute nodes and the executive node comprise a controller, wherein the executive node detects at least one idle compute node and initiates a transfer of at least a subset of the process control application from the at least one compute node detected to be failed to the idle compute node, wherein after the transfer the process control application executes on the idle compute node and receives data from I/O application dataset. an electronic data communication channel; a plurality of compute nodes each connected to the communication channel, wherein at least one compute node implements a process control application; a sensor connected to the communication channel for providing electronic data representative of a physical value of the industrial process; an actuator connected to the communication channel for receiving electronic data representative of a manipulation of a physical value of the industrial process; and an executive node connected to the communication channel for initiating a transfer of at least a subset of the process control application among one or more other compute nodes via the communication channel, characterized in that the industrial process control apparatus comprises a central storage node providing a central data store, and in that the electronic data communication channel is connected to the central data store, wherein the executive node includes a control database and an application manager, wherein the executive node further includes an input/output (I/O) database comprising an I/O application dataset with all data required for migrating the process control application from one compute node to another compute node, and wherein at least one compute node implements an I/O application configured to control electronic data transmission and reception between the communication channel and the sensor and the actuator, wherein the at least one compute node implementing the process control application stores a current state and intermediate data associated with the process control application in the control database, wherein the application manager detects a failure of the at least one compute node implementing the process control application, and wherein the application manager initiates a transfer of the current state and the intermediate data from the control database to at least one other compute node in response to the detected failure, wherein at least one of the compute nodes and the executive node comprise a controller, wherein the executive node detects at least one idle compute node and initiates a transfer of at least a subset of the process control application from the at least one compute node detected to be failed to the idle compute node, wherein after the transfer the process control application executes on the idle compute node and receives data from I/O application dataset.