Distributed Systems

A distributed system is a collection of processors that do not share memory or a clock. Each node has its own local memory. The nodes communicate with one another through various networks, such as high-speed buses and the Internet.

Network operating systems

Allows users to log in remotely.

$ ssh cs.yale.edu

Allows remote file transfer from one host to another.

Load balancing: The processes may be distributed across the network to even the workload. Computation speedup: A single process can be divided into a number of subprocesses that can run concurrently. Hardware preference: The process may have characteristics that make it more suitable for execution on some specialized processors. Software preference: The process may require software that is available at only a particular site. Data access: it may be more efficient to have a process run remotely than to transfer all the data.

Summary

A distributed system is a collection of processors that do not share memory or a clock. The processors in a distributed system vary in size and function.