Chapter 1 - Introduction

1.1 Introduction and Definition

 Before the mid-1980s, computers were
 very expensive (hundred of thousands or even millions of
dollars)
 very slow (a few thousand instructions per second)
 not connected among themselves
 After the mid-1980s: two major developments
 cheap and powerful microprocessor-based computers
appeared
 computer networks
 LANs at speeds ranging from 10 to 1000 Mbps
 WANs at speed ranging from 64 Kbps to gigabits/sec
 Consequence
 feasibility of using a large network of computers to work for the
same application; this is in contrast to the old centralized
systems where there was a single computer with its peripherals

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 Definition of a Distributed System

 Various definitions of distributed systems have been given in the literature,

 None of them satisfactory, and none of them in agreement with any of the others.
 For our purposes it is sufficient to give a loose characterization:

 a distributed system is a collection of independent computers that appears to its users

as a single coherent system.

 This definition has two aspects:

1. hardware: autonomous machines
2. software: a single system view for the users

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 Examples of Distributed systems

 Web Applications
 E.g., Google search or Amazon e-commerce platform
 Cloud computing
 E.g., Google cloud, Microsoft Azure, …..
 File sharing networks
 E.g., Peer-to-peer systems like BitTorrent
 Distributed databases
 E.g., Apache Cassandra or Google Spanned
 Blockchain
 E.g., Bitcoin

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 Why Distributed?
 Resource and Data Sharing
 printers, databases, multimedia servers, ...
 Availability, Reliability
 the loss of some instances can be hidden
 Scalability, Extensibility
 the system grows with demand (e.g., extra servers)
 Performance
 huge power (CPU, memory, ...) available
 Inherent distribution, communication
 organizational distribution, e-mail, video

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 Problems of Distribution
 Concurrency, Security
 clients must not disturb each other
 Privacy
 e.g., when building a preference profile
 unwanted communication such as spam
 Partial failure
 we often do not know where the error is (e.g., RPC)
 Location, Migration, Replication
 clients must be able to find their servers
 Heterogeneity
 hardware, platforms, languages, management

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1.2 Organization and Goals of a Distributed System
 to support heterogeneous computers and networks and
 to provide a single-system view,
 a distributed system is often organized by means of a
layer of software called middleware that extends over
multiple machines

a distributed system organized as middleware; note that the middleware layer

extends over multiple machines 7
 Goals of a distributed system: a distributed system should
 make remote resources easily accessible
 E.g., printers, computers, storage facilities, data, files, Web pages,
networks, ...
 There are many reasons for wanting to share resources:
 economics,
 to collaborate and exchange information
 be transparent: hide the fact that the resources and processes are
distributed across multiple computers
 be open
 be scalable

Transparency in a Distributed System

 a distributed system that is able to present itself to users
and applications as if it were only a single computer
system is said to be transparent
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 different forms of transparency in a distributed system
Transparency Description
Access Hide differences in data representation
(endianness, file naming, ...) and how a
resource
is accessed
Location Hide where a resource is physically located;
where
is http://www.google.com? (naming)
Migration Hide that a resource may move to another
location
Relocation Hide that a resource may be moved to
another location while in use; e.g., mobile users
using their wireless laptops
Replication Hide that a resource is replicated
Concurrency Hide that a resource may be shared by
several competitive users; a resource must be left
in a consistent state 9
 Openness in a Distributed System
 a distributed system should be open
 we need well-defined interfaces
 interoperability
 components from different origin can communicate/work together
 portability
 components work on different platforms
 another goal of an open distributed system is that it should be
flexible and extensible;
 easy to configure the system out of different components;
 easy to add new components,
 replace existing ones
 an Open Distributed System is a system that offers services
according to standard rules that describe the syntax and
semantics of those services;
 e.g., protocols in networks

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 Scalability in Distributed Systems can be measured at least in three
dimensions

 a distributed system should be scalable

 size: adding more users and resources to the system
 geographically: users and resources may be far apart
 administratively: should be easy to manage even if it spans
many administrative organizations

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  Scalability problems: performance problems caused by
limited capacity of servers and networks
Concept Example
Single server for all users-mostly for security
Centralized services
reasons
Centralized data A single on-line telephone book
Doing routing based on complete
Centralized algorithms
examplesinformation
of scalability limitations

 Scaling Techniques
 how to solve scaling problems
 the problem is mainly performance, and arises as a result of limitations in
the capacity of servers and networks (for geographical scalability)
 Three possible solutions:
 Hiding communication latencies,
 Distribution, and
 Replication

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A. Hide Communication Latencies
 is important to achieve geographical scalability
 The basic idea is simple: try to avoid waiting for responses to
remote service requests
 let the requester do other useful job
 i.e., construct requesting applications that use only
asynchronous communication instead of synchronous
communication; when a reply arrives the application is
interrupted.
 good for batch processing and parallel applications but not for
interactive applications
 for interactive applications, move part of the job to the client to
reduce communication;
 e.g. filling a form and checking the entries

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(a) a server checking the correctness of field entries
(b) a client doing the job

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D. Distribution
 Distribution involves taking a component, splitting it into smaller parts
 e.g., DNS - Domain Name System
 divide the name space into zones
 for details, see later in Chapter 4 - Naming

an example of dividing the DNS name space into zones

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C. Replication
 replicate components across a distributed system to
increase availability and for load balancing, leading to
better performance
 decided by the owner of a resource
 caching (a special form of replication) also reduces
communication latency; decided by the user
 but, caching and replication may lead to consistency
problems (see Chapter 6 - Consistency and Replication)

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1.3 Hardware Concepts
 All distributed systems consist of multiple CPUs and
Memory.
 We can organize hardwares in several different ways in
term of their connection and communication
 From Hardware perspective, we can divide distributed
systems into two broad categories:
 Multiprocessor Systems
 Multicomputer Systems

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 Hardware requirements

 We cant define complete hardware requirements

for a distributed system in general but we will
discuss the most basic requirements here and
these are.
 Processors.
 Memory (Specially RAM).
 Interconnecting Resources

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Multiprocessor Systems

 Such systems consist of computer having multiple

processors and memory that are connected through a
high speed back plane over the mother board.

OR

 Multiprocessor is a single computer system containing

multiple processors interconnected with the common
I/O and memory devices.

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Multiprocessor Systems

 There are two types of multiprocessor system with

respect to Memory.
 Multi Processor System with Shared Memory.
 Multi Processor System with Non Shared Memory.
 There are two types of multiprocessor system with
respect to Inter connection of Memory and Processors.
 Bus Based Systems.
 Switch Based Systems.

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Multiprocessor Systems

different basic organizations of processors and memories in distributed

systems 21
1.3.1 Bust based Multiprocessor systems with Shared Memory
 the shared memory has to be coherent - the same value written
by one processor must be read by another processor
 performance problem for bus-based organization since the bus
will be overloaded as the number of processors increases
 the solution is to add a high-speed cache memory between the
processors and the bus to hold the most recently accessed
words; may result in incoherent memory

a bus-based multiprocessor

 bus-based multiprocessors are difficult to scale even with caches

 To address scalability issue, there are two possible solutions:
 Crossbar switch and
 Omega network

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Switch Based Multi Processor Systems With Shared
Memory

 There are two types.

 Cross Bar Switch Based.
 Omega Switch Based.

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 Crossbar switch
 divide memory into modules and connect them to the
processors with a crossbar switch
 at every intersection, a crosspoint switch is opened and closed
to establish connection
 problem: expensive; with n CPUs and n memories, n 2 switches
are required

Cross Bar
Switch Based Multi
Processor Systems
With Shared Memory

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 Omega network
 use switches with multiple input and output lines
 drawback: high latency because of several switching
stages between the CPU and memory

Omega Switch
Based Multi Processor
Systems With Shared
Memory

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1.3.2 Multicomputer Systems

 What is multicomputer systems

 The system consists of multiple computers connected by a

network.
 A multicomputer system is a group of computers
connected by a network that work together to solve a
problem.

 A multicomputer is a system consists of several individual

computers connected in a network
 each individual computer has its own computing
resources such as processor, I/O and memory devices.

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1.3.2 Multicomputer Systems(cont.)

 Types Of Multi-Computer Systems

 There are two types based on types of computers we
wanted to use in our system
 Homogeneous Multi-Computer systems.
 Heterogeneous Multi-Computer Systems.

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Homogeneous Multicomputer Systems

 also referred to as System Area Networks (SANs)

 The system consist of same type of computers.
 Each Computer has its own memory and CPUs.
 Computer will communicate each other through a high
speed interconnection network.
 This high speed interconnection network can be a
 Bus based or
 Switch based

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Homogeneous Multicomputer Systems(cont.)

 Bus-based Homogeneous Multicomputer Systems

 shared multiaccess network such as Fast Ethernet
can be used and messages are broadcasted.
 performance drops highly with more than 25-100
nodes (contention)

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Homogeneous Multicomputer Systems

 Switch-based
 messages are routed through an interconnection network
 two popular topologies: meshes (or grids) and
hypercubes

Hypercube
Grid(meshe)
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Heterogeneous Multicomputer Systems

 Most distributed systems are built on heterogeneous multicomputer systems

 The computers could be different in
 processor type,
 memory size,
 architecture,
 power,
 operating system, etc.
 The interconnection network may be highly heterogeneous as well
 The distributed system provides a software layer to hide the heterogeneity at
the hardware level; i.e., provides transparency

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1.4 Software Concepts

 What is Software/Operating systems?

 Operating systems in relation to distributed systems can

be roughly divided into two categories:
 Tightly-coupled systems
 Loosely-coupled systems

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1.4 Software Concepts(cont.)

 Tightly-coupled systems, referred to as distributed OSs

(DOS)
 the OS tries to maintain a single, global view of the
resources it manages
 Is used for multiprocessors and homogeneous
multicomputers
 Loosely-coupled systems, referred to as network OSs
(NOS)
 a collection of computers each running its own OS;
 they work together to make their services and resources
available to others
 Is used for heterogeneous multicomputers
 Middleware:
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 Summary of main issues

System Description Main Goal

Tightly-coupled operating system for multi- Hide and manage
DOS processors and homogeneous hardware
multicomputers resources
Loosely-coupled operating system for Offer local
NOS heterogeneous multicomputers (LAN and services to remote
WAN) clients
Provide
Additional layer on a top of NOS
Middleware distribution
implementing general-purpose services
transparency

an overview of DOSs, NOSs, and middleware

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Distributed Operating Systems

 There are two types

 multiprocessor operating system:
 to manage the resources of a multiprocessor
 multicomputer operating system:
 To manage homogeneous multicomputers

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Multiprocessor Operating Systems

 Extended uniprocessor operating systems to support multiple

processors having access to a shared memory
 Modern OSs are designed to be able to handle multiple
processors.
 Multiprocessor Operating Systems aim to support high
performance through multiple CPUs.
 a protection mechanism is required for concurrent access to
guarantee consistency
 There are two synchronization mechanisms:
 Semaphores and
 Monitors

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 Multiprocessor Operating Systems(cont.)

 Semaphore:
 Can be thought of as an integer with two atomic operations:
 Down
 Up
 Monitor:
 a programming language construct consisting of procedures
and variables that can be accessed only by the procedures of
the monitor;
 Only a single process at a time is allowed to execute a
procedure
 Goal:
 To ensure orderly access to shared resources and prevent
issues like race conditions, deadlocks, or data inconsistencies.
 To ensure replicated databases are up-to-date

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Multicomputer Operating Systems
 Totally different structure and complexity than multiprocessor OSs.
 Processors can not share memory; instead communication is through message passing
 each node has its own
 kernel for managing local resources
 separate module for handling interprocessor communication
 They are organized as follows:

general structure of a multicomputer operating system 38

Multicomputer Operating Systems(cont.)

Blocking and buffering in message passing

 In Multicomputer Operating Systems blocking and

buffering can take place as follows:

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Distributed Shared Memory Systems

 Practice showed that programing multicomputers is much harder than programing multiprocessor.

 The deference caused by communication way, i.e., shared memory and message passing

 In message passing, issues like buffering, blocking and reliable communication make things worse.

 For this reason, researcher try to implement shared memory communication way on multicomputer systems.

 The goal is to provide a virtual shared memory machine running on a multicomputer systems.

 This leads to what is called Page-based distributed shared memory (DSM)

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 Distributed Shared Memory Systems(cont..)
Page-based distributed shared memory (DSM) - uses the virtual memory
capabilities of each individual node.

pages of address space distributed among four machines 41

 situation after CPU 1 references page 10

 read-only pages can be easily replicated

situation if page 10 is read only and replication is used

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 Network Operating Systems

 possibly heterogeneous underlying hardware

 constructed from a collection of uniprocessor systems, each with its own
operating system and connected to each other in a computer network

general structure of a network operating system

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 Services offered by network operating systems

 remote login (rlogin)

 remote file copy (rcp)
 shared file systems through file servers

two clients and a server in a network operating system

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 Middleware
 a distributed operating system is not intended to handle a
collection of independent computers but provides
transparency and ease of use
 a network operating system does not provide a view of a
single coherent system but is scalable and open
 combine the scalability and openness of network operating
systems and the transparency and ease of use of distributed
operating systems
 this is achieved through a middleware, another layer of
software

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• Positioning Middleware
• The goal is to hide heterogeneity

general structure of a distributed system as middleware

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Middleware models

 Model-1: UNIX (or Plan 9)

 All resources including I/O devices are treated as
files
 Middleware based on distributed file system has
proven to be reasonable scalable
 Model-2: Remote procedure calls(RPCs)
 Model-3: RMI
(for detail, see Chapter 2 - Communication)

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 a comparison between multiprocessor operating systems,
multicomputer operating systems, network operating
systems, and middleware-based distributed systems

Distributed OS
Network Middleware
Item
Multiproc Multicomp OS -based OS

Degree of
Very High High Low High
transparency
Same OS on all nodes Yes Yes No No
Number of copies of
1 N N N
OS
Basis for Shared Model
Messages Files
communication memory specific
Global, Global,
Resource management Per node Per node
central distributed
Scalability No Moderately Yes Varies
Openness Closed Closed Open Open
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1.5 The Client-Server Model

 how are processes organized in a system

 thinking in terms of clients requesting services from servers

general interaction between a client and a server

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 Application Layering
 no clear distinction between a client and a server;
 for instance a server for a distributed database may act as a
client when it forwards requests to different file servers
 three levels exist
 the user-interface level:
 implemented by clients and contains all that is required by a
client;
 usually through GUIs, but not necessarily
 the processing level:
 contains the applications
 the data level:
 contains the programs that maintain the actual data dealt with

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 the general organization of an Internet search engine into three
different layers

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 Client-Server Architectures
 how to physically distribute a client-server application across several machines
 One approach is Multi-tiered Architectures and can be divided into two groups:
 Two tiered architecture
 Three tiered architecture

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 Two tiered architecture

Two-tiered architecture: alternative client-server organizations

a) put only terminal-dependent part of the user interface on the client

machine and let the applications remotely control the presentation
b) put the entire user-interface software on the client side
c) move part of the application to the client, e.g. checking correctness in
filling forms
d) and e) are for powerful client machines

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Three tiered architecture

three tiered architecture: an example of a server acting as a client

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 Modern Architectures
 Utilize vertical distribution and horizontal distribution to design scalable, efficient, and fault-tolerant
systems.
 These architectures define how components are distributed in a system.
 Two architectures:
 Vertical distribution:
 horizontal distribution:

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Modern Architectures(cont.)

 Vertical distribution:
 Vertical distribution refers to distributing different functions
or layers of a system across various nodes or machines.
 It is commonly seen in tiered architectures, where
responsibilities are divided by their role or function (e.g.,
presentation, application, and data storage)
 Key Characteristics:
 Focuses on functional separation.
 Commonly follows multi-tiered models like 2-tier or 3-tier
architectures.
 Communication occurs vertically between layers, with each layer
dependent on the others.
 Real-World Use Cases:
 E-commerce Platforms and Enterprise Applications

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Modern Architectures(cont.)
 Horizontal distribution:
 physically split up the client or the server into
logically equivalent parts. e.g. Web server
 Horizontal distribution involves duplicating or
replicating the same components or functions across
multiple nodes.
 It focuses on scaling out to handle larger workloads or
improve fault tolerance.
 Key Characteristics:
 Focuses on scalability and redundancy.
 Components at the same level perform similar tasks.
 Often associated with load balancing and replication.
 Examples:
 Cluster Computing, Content Delivery Networks, and Distributed
Databases 57
Modern Architectures(cont.)

an example of horizontal distribution of a Web service

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Modern Architectures(cont.)

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 Thank You!

Next  Chapter two

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