Distributed Systems

Learn about distributed systems.

distributed system definition (coulouris and dollimore)

a system in which hardware and software components located at networked computers communicate and coordinate their actions only by passing messages

distributed systems pro 1

functionality is in the optimal place. near the client for responsiveness, near the data for throughput

distributed systems pro 2

offers a more seamless experience to the user, more functions “look the same”

distributed systems con

placing components remotely massively increases the possible failure nodes and makes systems more complex

distributed computing fallacy 1

the network is reliable

distributed computing reality 1

partitioning leads to degradation

distributed computing fallacy 2

latency is zero

distributed computing reality 2

communication time is unbounded

distributed computing fallacy 3

bandwidth is infinite

distributed computing reality 3

bandwidth is generally small

distributed computing fallacy 4

the network is secure

distributed computing reality 4

applications must deal with unknown parties

distributed computing fallacy 5

topology doesn’t change

distributed computing reality 5

topology and membership are variable

distributed computing fallacy 6

there is one administrator

distributed computing reality 6

there is no one admin, human or otherwise

distributed computing fallacy 7

transport cost is zero

distributed computing reality 7

wireless transport has a high power cost

distributed computing fallacy 8

the network is homogenous

distributed computing reality 8

large degree of device heterogeneity