Whats an example of a distributed system?

Question

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Answer 1

Wide spectrum for this one...

From the '80s, the notion was LAN (local area network). This evolved to WAN (wide area network...could be be multiple LANs widely separated by distance, just a bunch of widely dispersed computers, or a mix of both). Most lately, it has come to include the Wild-'n'-Wacky-Web.

The "distributed" term usually refers to a model of access and software usage. Users exist at distal points. Services are consolidated at a point locale. Users (from "out yonder somewhere") access and share services ("over here at this single, local point"). The notion of "single, local point" has become increasingly fuzzy, since the servers may be co-located or widely dispersed physically.

Answer 2

An example is, in a government agency that has district offices all over the state: like, say, a payroll system. The district office employees register their leave requests; they register hours worked; and on, like that. The district office managers register pay raise recommendations for employees.

The main office receives this information, then keeps track of it in a central database. This keeps track of all department employees. (It may also send information on to the Governor's office or to State Personnel!) The government agency keeps track of civil rights and other employee info. The government agency approves pay raises and sends out paychecks.

All this processing is "distributed" and "coordinated" (in agreed-upon data formats and schema) on many computers.

Answer 3

Various "...@Home" projects exist that do distributed computing:

http://folding.stanford.edu/
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/
etc.

These sites have a little software application that you download and install that then donates your spare CPU cycles to better humanity (or to waste them...no one is really sure yet how useful this stuff is - gets plenty of press though).

Answer 4

diarhia