Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 What Is a Distributed System?
Life in the twenty-first century has a growing dependence on networked services that have changed the fabric of the society. Starting from web searching, video conferencing, stock trading, and net banking to keeping in touch with friends and peers through various kinds of social networks, network-based services play a dominant role. While networks provide the basic connectivity, the various services built on top of these networks are examples of distributed systems.
Leslie Lamport once noted, “A distributed system is one in which the failure of a computer you didn’t even know existed can render your own computer unusable.” While this is certainly not a definition, it characterizes the ...
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