What is a distributed system?
Independent components or elements
(software processes or any piece of hardware used to run a
process, store data, etc)
What is a distributed system?
Independent components or elements that are connected by
a network.
What is a distributed system?
Independent components or elements that are connected by
a network and communicate by passing messages.
What is a distributed system?
Independent components or elements that are connected by
a network and communicate by passing messages to achieve a
common goal, appearing as a single coherent system.
What is a distributed system?
A distributed system is one in which the failure of a
computer you didn't even know existed can render
your own computer unusable.
- Leslie Lamport
Why distributed systems?
• Nature of the application
• Multiplayer games, P2P file sharing, client requesting a service.
• Availability despite unreliable components
• A service shouldn’t fail when one computer does.
• Conquer geographic separation
• A web request in India is faster served by a server in India than
by a server in US.
• Scale up capacity
• More CPU cycles, more memory, more storage, etc.
• Customize computers for specific tasks
• E.g. for storage, email, backup.
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
Defining Distributed Systems
▪ Various definition of distributed systems
have been given in the literature, for
example:
➢ A collection of logically related data that is
distributed over different processing nodes
of computer network.
▪ Definition above does not provide all
characteristics of distributed systems.
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
3
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
Defining Distributed Systems
▪ It is difficult to find a definition that provides all
characteristics of distributed systems.
▪ Another way is a definition that gives a loose
characterization for distributed systems such as:
➢ A distributed system is a collection of independent
computers that appear to the users of the system
as a single computer.
▪ With any definition, sharing of resources is a
main motivation for constructing distributed
systems.
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
4
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
Defining Distributed Systems
▪ In this course, we define distributed
systems more precisely as :
➢ A distributed system is one in which
hardware or software components located
at networked computers communicate and
coordinate their actions only by message
passing.
▪ Definition above covers the entire range of
distributed systems in which networked
computers can usefully be deployed.
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
5
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
Defining Distributed Systems
▪ Networks of computers are everywhere!
▪ Examples of networks of computers are:
➢ Mobile phone networks
➢ Corporate networks
➢ Factory networks
➢ Campus networks
➢ Home networks
➢ In-car networks
➢ On board networks in aero planes and
trains
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
6
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
Defining Distributed Systems
▪ Our definition of distributed systems has
the following significant consequences:
➢ Concurrency
❖ Tasks carry out independently
➢ No global clock
❖ Tasks coordinate their actions by
exchanging messages
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
7
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
Defining Distributed Systems
➢ Independent Failures
❖ Faults in the network result in the isolation
of the computers that are connected to it.
❖ Each component of the system can fail
independently, leaving the others still
running.
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
8
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
General Examples of Distributed Systems
▪ Internet
▪ Intranets
▪ Mobile networks
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
9
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
General Examples of Distributed Systems
▪ The Internet
➢ The Internet is a vast interconnected
collection of computer networks of many
different types.
➢ Multimedia services are available in the
Internet enabling users to access audio
and video data including music, radio, TV
channels, phone, and video conferencing.
(Figure 1)
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
10
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
General Examples of Distributed Systems
intranet
ISP
backbone
satellite link
desktop computer:
server:
network link:
Figure 1. A typical portion of the Internet
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
11
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
General Examples of Distributed Systems
▪ Intranet
➢ An intranet is a portion of the Internet that
is separately administered and has a
boundary that can be configured to
enforce local security policies.
(Figure 2)
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
12
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
General Examples of Distributed Systems
email server Desk to p
co mp uters
print and other servers
Local area
Web server network
email server
print
File server
other servers
the rest of
the Internet
router/firewall
Figure 2. A typical Interanet
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
13
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
General Examples of Distributed Systems
▪ Mobile networks
➢ Technological advances in device
miniatorization and wireless networking
have led increasingly to the integration of
small and portable computing devices into
distributed systems.
➢ These devices include:
❖ Laptop computers
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
14
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
General Examples of Distributed Systems
➢ Wearable devices
❖ Smart watches with functionality similar to a
PDA
➢ Devices embedded in appliances
❖ Washing machines
❖ Hi-fi systems
❖ Cars
❖ Refrigerators
(Figure 3)
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
16
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
General Examples of Distributed Systems
Internet
Ho stintranet WAP
Wireles s LAN gateway Ho me intranet
Mo bile
phone
Printer Laptop
Ca mera Ho stsite
Figure 3. Portable and handheld devices in a distributed system.
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
17
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
Other Examples of Distributed Systems
▪ Cluster
➢ A type of parallel or distributed processing
system, which consists of a collection of
interconnected stand-alone computers
cooperatively working together as a single,
integrated computing resource. The
computers may be standard per
uniprocessor or multiprocessor.
➢ A cluster can be used for providing highly
scalable services such as search engines
provide for users all over the Internet.
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
18
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
Other Examples of Distributed Systems
▪ Grid
➢ A type of parallel and distributed system
that enables the sharing, selection, and
aggregation of geographically distributed
autonomous resources dynamically at
runtime depending on their availability,
capability, performance, cost, and users'
quality-of-service requirements.
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
19
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
Resource sharing and the Web
▪ The World Wide Web
➢ The World Wide Web is an evolving
system for publishing and accessing
resources and services across the
Internet.
(Figure 4)
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005
20
CHARACTERIZATION OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
Resource sharing and the Web
[Link]
[Link]
Web servers Browsers
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
File system of [Link]
[Link] Protocols
[Link]
Figure 4. Web servers and web browsers.
21
Couloris,Dollimore and Kindberg Distributed Systems: Concepts & Design Edn. 4 , Pearson Education 2005