I find myself thinking that the pattern of computing is to first implement an idea in discreet boxes, and then translate that into regions on a IC. Just observ

I find myself thinking that the pattern of computing is to first implement an idea in discreet boxes, and then translate that into regions on a IC. Just observe the path from Mainframe, via minicomp, to todays SoCs. And as i was reading your comment i found myself thinking about how to get multiple servers to talk to a common datastore, and how that looks eerily similar to this cache coherence issue. To wander into the weird for a bit, the phrase "as above, so below" keeps going through my mind while contemplating all this.