CS 110 Principles of Web Development

A comprehensive set of flashcards covering key concepts from the Principles of Web Development lecture, focusing on Distributed Systems, their characteristics, protocols, and challenges.

Distributed System (DS)

A collection of independent computers interconnected via a network, coordinating on a task and appearing as a single coherent system to users.

Protocols

Sets of rules used when computers communicate, with protocols like HTTP governing how requests and responses operate within the web.

Client-Server Model

A communication model where clients make requests to servers, which manage resources and respond to the requests.

Packet Switching

A method of data transmission where messages are broken into smaller packets that are routed to their destination based on the address.

TCP/IP

A suite of protocols used to promote growth and unification of different computer networks, facilitating communication on the Internet.

Dynamic Web Sites

Web sites that generate content dynamically at run-time based on server-side programs, varying from user to user.

IP Address

A numeric code assigned to each device on a network, uniquely identifying it and allowing for communication.

DNS (Domain Name System)

A distributed database system that maps hostnames to IP addresses, functioning like a phonebook for the Internet.

HTTP Request Headers

Data sent in a request from a client to a server, containing information about the client and request specifics.

Asynchronous Requests (AJAX)

Requests made by the client after page rendering to update data without needing to refresh the entire page.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

Naming mechanism that allows clients to request specific resources from the server on the web.

Concurrency

The execution of multiple activities simultaneously in a distributed system, allowing for parallel processing.

Heterogeneity Challenges

Issues arising from the variety of hardware, protocols, and software that must interact within a distributed system.

Load Balancer

A system component that distributes incoming network traffic across multiple servers to ensure no single server becomes overloaded.

Superpeer Systems

A type of peer-to-peer (P2P) architecture where certain nodes act as servers providing services like indexing or routing.

Middleware

Software that provides common services and capabilities to applications outside of what's offered by the operating system.

Static Web Sites

Websites that do not change content dynamically and are typically updated manually by a webmaster.

Scalability

The capability of a distributed system to handle a growing amount of work or its potential to accommodate growth.

Latency

The time it takes for a message to travel from sender to receiver in a distributed system.

Failure Handling in DS

Processes to detect, mask, and recover from failures in a distributed system to maintain service reliability.

Security in Distributed Systems

Measures taken to protect data integrity, confidentiality, and availability across a distributed network.