DISTRIBUTED

COMPUTING
Sunita Mahajan,
Mahajan Principal, Institute of
Computer Science, MET League of
Colleges, Mumbai

Seema Shah,
Shah Principal, Vidyalankar
Institute of Technology, Mumbai
University

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 Chapter-1

Basic Distributed System Concepts

Operating system
(hardware, Software, application software)

Network (Resource, Client-server)

Communication
Database Concept

Independent , networked, communicating

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 What is a distributed system?
• Tanenbaum’s definition of a distributed system:

“A distributed system is a collection of independent

computers that appear to the users of the system as a
single coherent system.”
DS is a software system in which components located on
networked computers and they communicate and
coordinate by passing msg

Component interact with each other: for common goal

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 Advantages of DS
• Better Performance: By using the resources of
numerous computers to tackle the workload,
distributed systems can perform at higher levels
than centralized systems.
• Cost Effectively
• Efficiency:
• Scalability:
• Reliability:
• Geographic Distribution:
• Reduced Cost:
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 Advantages of DS
• Flexibility: to deal with variety of applications
• Fault Tolerance:
• Reduced Latency: Distributed systems result in
low latency. The distributed system makes sure
that the system receives traffic from that node.
• Security: Data breaches and illegal access
• Innovation: Data analytics, machine learning,
and the Internet of Things are just a few of the
areas where distributed systems are fostering
innovation (IoT).

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 Disadvantages of DS
• Compatibility: compatibility across multiple
nodes and software systems
• Startup Cost
• Security
• Overheads: This happens when all the
workstations try to operate at once
• Testing and Debugging: complexity of the
system or the interactions between many
nodes

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 Disadvantages of DS
• Network Dependency: are prone to network
errors which result in communication
breakdown. failed to be delivered or not in the
correct sequence. And also, troubleshooting
errors is a difficult task
• Consistency:
• Complexity: difficulty in implementation,
maintenance, and troubleshooting in hardware
and software used in distributed systems
handling communication and security.
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Transparency in DS

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 Transparency in DS
• Access Transparency: same operations to be
used to access (eg. The File system in Network
File System (NFS), SQL queries, and web
navigation)
• Location Transparency: NFS file system and
the pages of the web
• Concurrency Transparency: many processes
to run in parallel (eg. Automatic Teller
Machine-ATM)

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 Transparency in DS
• Replication Transparency: to improve reliability
and performance without having to know about
replication to the user
• Failure Transparency: allowing users and
application programs to execute tasks even
when hardware and software components failed
• Mobility Transparency: It also bolsters the load
balancing of any client that may be
overburdened

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 Transparency in DS
• Performance Transparency: enables system
reconfiguration
• Scaling Transparency: to scale up without
requiring changes to the system architecture or
application techniques
• Parallelism Transparency: parallel activities to
run without users knowing how, where and
when

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 Degree of Transparency
• It is normally preferable, but it is not always
the best option.
• It is not a good idea to keep a physical
resource like a printer hidden from its users.
• A trade-off between a high level of
transparency and a system’s performance is
required.

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Principles of DS
Coordinate activities, Share Resource of system
• Processes
• Communication
• Naming – scale tech DNS (.com .au .in)
• Synchronization
• Replication and consistency
• Fault tolerance and security

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Architecture for DS
(1) Single high speed processor (centralize)
(2) Decentralize (not in syllabus)
(3) Multiple processors inter connected (Distributed)
(i) tightly coupled (shared Memory)
(ii) Loosely coupled (Distributed memory arch)
Compare above three?
(point of failure, Fault tolerence/stability, scalability)

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Architectures for Distributed systems

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 An example of a Distributed System
• Nationalized Bank with multiple Branch Offices

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Architectures for Distributed systems
• Tightly coupled systems (Shared memory)
– shared memory (address space)
– System- wide primary memory -> nr. of PE’s
– Write carefully
– Should have exclusive access, Parallel processing
• Loosely coupled systems (Distributed memory )
– Do not share memory, local memory
– Communication - passing msg across network
– scalability

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Architectures for Distributed systems

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 NOS vs DOS
• NOS: Network OS • DOS: Distribute OS
• Software associate • Centralize OS ,
(protocol) run on multiple PE
• Multiplicity of nodes • User unaware of
multiplicity (machines)
• Control-manual • Automatically
• Performance- bad • Good performance
• Remote resource • Actual local resource
login- failure
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 Distributed Computing Models
– Mini computer models
• (centralize time sharing sys., multiple users, comm
n/w)
• E.g. ARPANET
• Workstation model
• Workstation–server model
• Processor-pool model
• Hybrid model

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 Workstation model

• Consists of network of Personal computers,

• Each one with its own hard disk and local file system
• Interconnected over the network(high speed LAN)
• single user sys,Idle- when not in use (user absent), waste of cpu
WS---job --> WS (efficiency, processing capability)
• Issue: how to find idle WS?, how transfer, (idle -> busy)

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 workstation-server model

• Consists of multiple workstations coupled with powerful

servers with extra hardware to store the file systems and
other software like databases
• Not own disk, file on server, (less expensive)
• High speed LAN, different servers
• Server control (Fun, reliability, fault tolerant)
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 processor-pool model
• consists of multiple processors: a pool of processors
and a group of workstations
• Run Server (pool schedule)

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 Advantages of Distributed
systems
• Inherently distributed applications
• Information sharing among geographically
distributed users
• Resource Sharing
• Better price performance ratio
• Shorter response time & higher throughput
• Higher reliability and availability against
component failures
• Extensibility and Incremental Growth
• Better Flexibility
• e,.g. banking, ticket reservation,
• multi branch offices

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Disadvantages of Distributed systems
• Relevant software does not exist currently
• Security poses a problem due to easy access
to all data
• Networking saturation may cause a hurdle in
data transfer.

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 Software concepts
• Network Operating System (NOS)
• Distributed Operating System (DOS)
• Multiprocessor Time Sharing System

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Network Operating System (NOS)
• Build using a distributed system from a network of
workstations connected by high speed network.
• Each workstation is an independent computer with
its own operating system, memory and other
resources like hard disks, file system and databases

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 Distributed Operating System (DOS)
• Enables a distributed system to behave like a
virtual uniprocessor even though the system
operates on a collection of machines.
• Characteristics
– enabling Inter process communication,
– Uniform process management mechanism,
– Uniform and visible file system,
– Identical kernel implementation,
– Local control of machines
– handling scheduling issues.

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 Multiprocessor Time Sharing System
• Combination of tightly coupled software and tightly
coupled hardware with multiple CPUs projecting a
uniprocessor image.
• Tasks are queued in shared memory and are
scheduled to be executed in time shared mode on
available processors.

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Comparison of different Operating
systems
Software Concepts

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 Issues in Designing Distributed
systems
• Transparency
• Flexibility
• Reliability
• Performance
• Scalability
• Security

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 Transparency
Transparencies required for Distributed Systems

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 Replication Transparency
Locating Replicated File stored on any server

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 Flexibility
• Monolithic kernel approach
• Microkernel approach

• Kernel- central control (Basic system facilities)

• Kernel-execute supervisory mode
– Privilege access to physical resources
– Function of kernel
• Memory management
• Process management
• Resource management
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 Monolithic kernel approach
• uses the minimalist , modular approach with
accessibility to other services as needed.

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 Microkernel approach
• uses the kernel does it all approach with all
functionalities provided by the kernel
irrespective whether all machines use it or not

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Monolithic versus Microkernel
Approach

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 Reliability
• Availability in case of Hardware failure
- e.g. single system- if (crash)?
- multiple proc available, become reliable
• Data recovery in case of Data failure
• Maintain consistency in case of replicated
data

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 Performance
Metrics are:
• Response time,
• Throughput,
• System utilization
• Amount of network capacity used

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 Scalability
• Techniques to handle scalability issues
– hide communication latencies,
– hide distribution
– hide replication

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Hide communication latencies,

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Hide distribution

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 Security
• confidentiality means protection against
unauthorized access;
• integrity implies protection of data against
corruption
• availability means protection against failure
always accessible.

Fault tolerence
Fail-> other one take load
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 Client Server model

Client Server Interaction

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 Client Server addressing techniques
• Machine addressing,
• process addressing
• Name server addressing

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Client Server addressing techniques

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 Client Server implementation

• Messages for client server interaction

– Request, Reply, Acknowledge, Are you Alive, I am
Alive.

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differentiation between the client and
the server
• User interface level
• Processing level
• data level

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Client Server Architecture

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Case Study: World Wide Web 1.0

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Internet scenario with web servers
and web browsers

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Case study: World Wide Web 2.0

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Case Study: Google Servers

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 Summary
• Multiple-interconnected computers can have
either shared memory or distributed memory
architectures
• Distributed systems offer integration of
distributed applications, resource sharing, more
reliability, better flexibility
• Network operating system, distributed operating
system and multiprocessor timesharing system
are different types of distributed systems

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