Current and anticipated advances in semiconductor technology, in general, and in the area of microcomputers, in particular, will lead to a widespread utilization of distributed computer systems. The advantages of these types of systems have led to numerous design efforts. Most of these efforts have been undertaken in a largely ad hoc manner without any mechanism for the evaluation of design tradeoffs. At the same time it has become apparent that the most desirable evaluation approach must be objective and quantitative in nature. In this document we present a framework by means of which such an evaluation can be undertaken. The elements of the framework are identified and the requirements of each of these elements are given.