Universal Virtual Computer
SAN Recovery - Universal Virtual Computer
A Universal Virtual Computer (UVC) is similar to a virtual machine in that it creates a layer between the computer platform and the software and offers portability between different platforms. However, unlike the normal virtual machines, UVC is designed to be universal; it offers a platform independent layer. Thus the programs developed for the UVC will run anytime.
UVC is based on a concept called the Universal Virtual Computer based preservation method invented by R.A. Lorie. The method allows digital contents like text documents, spreadsheets, images, audio files, etc., to be reconstructed in the original form in the future using a combination of emulation and migration. This method is considered as a valuable solution for the daunting problems of digital obsolescence.
UVC-based preservation focuses on the idea that digital objects can be preserved in an archive form without losing the meaning of that object. It reconstructs the meaning of each particular digital object, along with the original data. Important components of the concept are: Universal Virtual Computer (UVC), Logical Data Schema (LDS) with type description, UVC program (format decoder), and Logical Data Viewer (LDV).
The UVC can be compared to the Java Virtual Machine and the Common Language Runtime in that it will run as a software application on a future platform, and not really acts as an emulator for existing hardware. The hardware may change quite often, so the UVC must be created at the time when a particular document needs to be accessed from the repository.
