Distributed Systems

A Brief Introduction
 OUTLINE
 BRIEF HISTORY.
 WHAT ARE DISTRIBUTED
SYSTEMS ? ?
 WHY DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS ? ?
 ADVANTAGES OF D.S. OVER THE
CENTRALIZED SYSTEM.
 ADVANTAGES OF D.S. OVER
INDEPENDENT PC’S.
 OUTLINE (Contd.)
 ORGANISATION OF DISTRIBUTED
SYSTEM.
 GOALS OF D.S.
− Resource Sharing.

− Openness.

− Transparency.

− Scalability.
 OUTLINE (Contd.)
− Concurrency.
 TYPES OF DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS.
− Distributed Computing Systems.

− Distributed Information Systems.

− Distributed Pervasive Systems.

 SUMMARY.
 HISTORY
 1945~1985

− Computers were large and expensive.

− No way to connect them.

− All systems were Centralized Systems.

 Mid-1980s
− Powerful microprocessors.

− High Speed Computer Networks (LANs , WANs).

 HISTORY (Contd.)

Then came the

DISTRIBUTED
SYSTEMS…
 What are Distributed Systems ? ?

 A distributed system is a piece of software that

ensures that:
 a collection of independent computers appears

to its users as a single coherent system.

 Two aspects:
 (1) independent computers and (2) single

system => middleware.

 EXAMPLES
 World Wide Web (WWW) is the biggest
example of distributed system.

 Others are
 The internet
 An intranet which is a portion of the internet
managed by an organization
 WHY DISTRIBUTED
SYSTEMS ? ?

 availability of powerful yet cheap

microprocessors (PCs, workstations),

 continuing advances in communication

technology
 ADVANTAGES OF D.S. OVER
CENTRALIZED SYSTEM:
 Economics:
A collection of microprocessors offer a better
price/performance than mainframes. Low
price/performance ratio:  cost effective way to
increase computing power.
 Reliability:
 If one machine crashes, the system as a whole
can still survive. Higher availability and
improved reliability.
ADVANTAGES (Contd.)
 Speed: a distributed system may have more
total computing power than a mainframe. 
Ex.: 10,000 CPU chips, each running at 50
MIPS. Not possible to build 500,000 MIPS
single processor.
Enhanced performance through load
distributing.
ADVANTAGES (Contd.)

 Incremental growth: Computing power

can be added in small increments. This
leads to Modular expandability
ADVANTAGES OF D.S. OVER
INDEPENDENT PCs:

 Data sharing: allow many users to access

to a common data base.

 Resource Sharing: expensive peripherals

like color printers.
ADVANTAGES (Contd.)

 Communication: enhance human-to-

human communication. E.g.: email, chat.

 Flexibility: spread the workload over the

available machines
 ORGANIZATION OF D.S.:

A distributed system organized as middleware.

−The middleware layer extends over multiple machines, and offers each
application the same interface.
 GOALS OF D.S. :
− Resource Sharing.
− Openness.
− Transparency.
− Scalability.
− Concurrency.
RESOURCE SHARING:
 With Distributed Systems, it is easier for users to
access remote resources and to share resources
with other users.
− Examples: printers, files, Web pages, etc
 A distributed system should also make it easier for
users to exchange information.
 Easier resource and data exchange could cause
security problems – a distributed system should
deal with this problem.
 OPENNESS:
 The openness of DS is determined primarily
by the degree to which new resource-
sharing services can be added and be made
available for use by a variety of client
programs.
 TRANSPARENCY:
 It hides the fact that the processes and
resources are physically distributed across
multiple computers.

 Transparency is of various forms as

follows:
TRANSPARENCY (Contd.)
 SCALABILITY:
 A system is described as scalable if it
remains effective when there is a significant
increase in the number of resources and the
number of users.
 Challenges:
 Controlling the cost of resources or money.
 Controlling the performance loss.
 CONCURRENCY:
 There is a possibility that several clients
will attempt to access a shared resource at
the same time.
 Any object that represents a shared resource
in a distributed system must be responsible
for ensuring that operates correctly in a
concurrent environment.
 TYPES OF D.S. :
 Distributed Computing Systems.
− Cluster Computing Systems.
− Grid Computing Systems.

 Distributed Information Systems.

 Distributed Pervasive Systems.

 DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING
SYSTEMS:
 Goal: High performance computing tasks.
Cluster Computing Systems:
− A “supercomputer” built from “off the

shelf” computer in a high-speed network

(usually a LAN)
− Most common use: a single program is run

in parallel on multiple machines

 (Contd.)
Grid Computing Systems:
− Contrary to clusters, grids are usually

composed of different types of computers

(hardware, OS, network, security, etc.)
− Resources from different organizations are

brought together to allow collaboration

− Examples: SETI@home, WWW…
 DISTRIBUTED
INFORMATION SYSTEMS:
 Goal: Distribute information across several
Servers.
− Remote processes called Clients access the
servers to manipulate the information
− Different communication models are used.
The most usual are RPC (Remote Procedure
Calls) and the object oriented RMI (Remote
Method Invocations)
 (Contd.)
− Often associated with Transaction systems
− Examples:
 Banks;
 Travel agencies;
 Rent-a-Cars’;
 Etc…
 DISTRIBUTED PERVASIVE
SYSTEMS:
− These are the distributed systems involving
mobile and embedded computer devices like
Small, wireless, battery-powered devices (PDA’s,
smart phones, sensors, wireless surveillance cams,
portable ECG monitors, etc.)
− These systems characterized by their “instability”
when compared to more “traditional” distributed
systems
 (Contd.)
− Pervasive Systems are all around us, and ideally
should be able to adapt to the lack of human
administrative control:
 Automatically connect to a different network;
 Discover services and react accordingly;
 Automatic self configuration (E.g.: UPnP –
Universal Plug and Play)…
− Examples: Home Systems, Electronic Health Care
Systems, Sensor Networks, etc.
 SUMMARY
 Distributed systems are everywhere
 Internet, intranet, wireless networks.
 Resource sharing is the main motivating
factor for constructing distributed systems.
 The construction of distributed systems
produces many challenges like Secure
communication over public networks.