A software infrastructure for distributed computing based on DCOM

To simplify the usage of a computer network as a virtual parallel machine, as well as to introduce the opportunity of distributed parallel computing to Visual Basic users, a DCOM-based software infrastructure is proposed in this article. This infrastructure is based on a master-slave model. It sends a broadcast call over a subnet as an invitation for cooperation, automatically distributes new program versions, and manages the unfinished jobs on the slave machines. As a test application, a simple solution of the traveling salesman problem is implemented.