Distributed server systems for C2-simulation interoperation

C2SIM coalitions assemble complex systems of systems that can be seen as a strong basis for future agile C2 solutions to coalition interoperability. Such systems generally include a server that stores XML documents representing Orders and Reports to be exchanged and distributes them among the interoperating systems. Recent advances in C2SIM system architecture involve distributed server systems that can provide for higher aggregated rates of message delivery and more efficient use of network capacity. This paper reports on the authors' work to combine multiple, heterogeneous C2SIM servers in flexible configurations of distributed server systems. The paper provides a summary of current BML server technology, focusing on why and how servers can be linked and the technical issues involved. Descriptions are provided for three different servers that operated as a distributed server system in 2014. The servers are compared and contrasted, including a description of the approa ch used to link them and technical issues encountered in the process. The paper concludes with a projection of the future of distributed server systems for C2SIM. This paper is derived from a paper by the same authors published by the ICCRTS-2015.