This module provides a framework for generating UUIDs (Universally Unique
Identifiers, also known as GUIDs (Globally Unique Identifiers). A UUID is
128 bits long, and is guaranteed to be different from all other UUIDs/GUIDs
generated until 3400 CE.

UUIDs were originally used in the Network Computing System (NCS) and later
in the Open Software Foundation's (OSF) Distributed Computing Environment.
Currently many different technologies rely on UUIDs to provide unique identity
for various software components. Microsoft COM/DCOM for instance, uses GUIDs
very extensively to uniquely identify classes, applications and components
across network-connected systems.

The algorithm for UUID generation, used by this extension, is described in the
Internet Draft "UUIDs and GUIDs" by Paul J. Leach and Rich Salz
(http://hegel.ittc.ku.edu/topics/internet/internet-drafts/draft-l/draft-leach-uuids-guids-01.txt).
It provides reasonably efficient and reliable framework for generating UUIDs
and supports fairly high allocation rates -- 10 million per second per machine
-- and therefore is suitable for identifying both extremely short-lived and
very persistent objects on a given system as well as across the network.

Author:
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Alexander Golomshtok