[InetBib] Dioscuri: the emulator for digital preservation

[olafhatmail@xxxxxx]

Liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen,

ich moechte Sie auf Dioscuri, einen Emulator der speziell fuer die 
digitale Langzeitarchivierung entwickelt wurde, hinweisen. Doppelempfang 
bitte ich zu entschuldigen.

Viele Gruesse

Olaf Brandt

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Dioscuri: the emulator for digital preservation


The Koninklijke Bibliotheek - national library of the Netherlands - and 
the Nationaal Archief of the Netherlands are proud to present the 
world’s first modular emulator designed for digital preservation: Dioscuri.

Dioscuri is capable of emulating an Intel 8086-based computer platform 
with support for VGA-graphics, screen, keyboard, and storage devices 
like a virtual floppy drive and hard drive. With these components 
Dioscuri successfully runs 16-bit operating systems like MS-DOS and 
applications such as WordPerfect 5.1, DrawPerfect 1.1 and Norton 
Commander. Furthermore, it is capable of running many nostalgic 
DOS-games and a simple Linux kernel. And when you finally open your 
long-forgotten WP5.1-files you can extract the text from the emulated 
environment into your current working environment using a simple 
clipboard-feature.


Designed for digital preservation

The design of Dioscuri is based on two key features: portability and 
flexibility.

Dioscuri is portable because it is built on top of a virtual layer, 
called a virtual machine (VM). By using a VM in between the real 
computer and the emulated one, Dioscuri becomes less dependent on the 
actual hardware and software it runs on. This approach offers better 
portability to other platforms, which ensures longevity when a platform 
fails to survive over time. Dioscuri has shown to run reliably on PC, 
Apple and Sun computers without the need to alter anything of the 
application.

Flexibility is gained by a component-based architecture. Each component, 
called module, imitates the functionality of a particular hardware 
component (i.e. processor, memory, hard disk, etc.). In concept, 
combining these modules any computer emulation can be created. 
Configuring Dioscuri is done by a user-friendly graphical interface 
which stores the settings in an XML-file.

Both its portability and flexibility make Dioscuri different from any 
other emulator that exist today and ensure that it is prepared for the 
future.

Developing Dioscuri

Development of the emulator started in January 2006 and was lead by 
Tessella Support Services plc. Together with emulation proponent Jeff 
Rothenberg the PC-architecture was examined and translated into a 
software representation, resulting in a modular emulator. Although 
developing an emulator is not an easy task, the project made it clear 
that with a limited resources it is possible to build one. With a total 
effort of roughly two man-years, Dioscuri has been designed, developed 
and tested.

Next steps are already in progress. Since July 2007 development of 
Dioscuri is continued under the umbrella of the European project 
Planets. Future work will consist of extending Dioscuri with more 
components to emulate newer x86 computers (286, 386, 486 and Pentium) 
which will make Dioscuri capable of running operating systems like MS 
Windows 95/98/2000/XP and Linux Ubuntu.

Download now!

Dioscuri version 0.2.0 is now available as open source software for any 
institution or individual that would like to experience their old 
digital documents again. Download Dioscuri from:

http://dioscuri.sourceforge.net

Mailinglist and contact

If you would like to be kept up to date about new developments of 
Dioscuri, please register for the Dioscuri news mailinglist:

https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/dioscuri-news


To get in touch with the project team, please contact:

Nationaal Archief of the Netherlands

Remco Verdegem, project manager Dioscuri:

remco.verdegem@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Koninklijke Bibliotheek

Jeffrey van der Hoeven, co-developer and tester:

jeffrey.vanderhoeven@xxxxx

Tessella Support Service plc

Bill Roberts, coordinator Development Team bill.roberts@xxxxxxxxxxxx

--

Olaf Brandt

Koninklijke Bibliotheek - National Library of the Netherlands

Tel: +31 70 3140 670

E-mail: olaf.brandt@xxxxx

www.kb.nl