Tycoon consists of four types of components: clients, auctioneers, the bank, and the service location service.

Client programs (also called agents) help users set up and manage accounts, find resources, and manage resources. For documentation on how to install the basic Tycoon client, see Chapter 2, Clients.

An auctioneer manages the resources on single providing host. Users use their agent to contact auctioneers to query the availability and current prices of resources, bid on resources, etc. To perform most operations on a providing host, a user must first set up a host account on that host. The auctioneer collects bids and manages the virtualization system to ensure that users receive the resources that they bid on. For documentation on how to install an auctioneer, see Chapter 3, Resource Providing Hosts).

The bank keeps track of the amount of currency that different users have in their bank accounts. There is an Internet-wide bank available at tycoon-bank.hpl.hp.com.

The service location service (SLS) keeps track of which auctioneers are up and what their status is. There is an Internet-wide SLS available at tycoon-sls.hpl.hp.com.

Before installing any of the tycoon components, you must have Yum (Yellowdog Updater Modified) installed.