For distributed systems to work, tasks must be divided into smaller subtasks and distributed across multiple nodes or computers in the network. These nodes or computers communicate and work together to complete tasks.
The next four steps briefly describe how distributed systems work.
distributed components
A distributed system consists of many parts or nodes spread across different real or virtual locations. These parts can communicate with each other over a network to achieve a single purpose.
communication
Components of distributed systems can communicate with each other using a variety of protocols and tools, including TCP/IP, HTTP, and message queues. These protocols allow nodes to communicate by sending and receiving messages or data.
adjustment
For the parts of a distributed system to work well together, their behavior must be coordinated. Several mechanisms such as distributed algorithms, consensus protocols and distributed transactions can be used to achieve this coordination.
fault tolerance
Distributed systems should be built with fault tolerance in mind. This means that it must be able to handle failures of specific parts or nodes without compromising overall system performance or availability. Distributed systems employ redundancy, replication, or partitioning strategies to achieve fault tolerance.
An online search engine is an example of a distributed system because it consists of many nodes that perform various functions such as crawling websites, indexing content, and processing user requests. These nodes work together to provide users with fast and effective search results.
Blockchain — a distributed ledger that records transactions securely and transparently — is another example of a distributed system. It is distributed because the ledger is stored on multiple nodes in the network, with each node holding a copy of the entire ledger. This improves transparency, security, and resilience to failures and attacks.
