Patent ID: 7590983

Claim:
A system, comprising: a processor; a transaction manager in communication with a plurality of local computers, wherein said transaction manager supports a plurality of message protocols to enable communication between said transaction manager and said plurality of local computers, wherein each said local computer runs a calling application; a queue in communication with said transaction manager, wherein said queue receives and stores a plurality of jobs and task inputs from said transaction manager, sends a plurality of computation requests to one or more of a plurality of node computers, and provides computation results when polled by said transaction manager; a scheduler in communication with said queue, wherein said scheduler routes a plurality of incoming tasks to a plurality of compute functions on the plurality of node computers and allocates computing resources of said plurality of node computers, a service manager in communication with said transaction manager, said scheduler, and said plurality of node computers, wherein said service manager controls allocation of computing resources among a plurality of users of said plurality of local computers such that a failure of one of said calling applications of one of said users will not adversely affect another of said calling applications of another of said users, even if both applications are running simultaneously; and a cache in communication with said plurality of node computers, wherein a minimum availability of said system is defined by an availability of said queue such that addition of one or more devices to said system downstream of said queue does not increase a failure probability of said system.