Distributed computing deals with hardware and software systems containing more than one processing element or storage element, concurrent processes, or multiple programs, running under a loosely or tightly controlled regime.

In distributed computing a program is split up into parts that run simultaneously on multiple computers communicating over a network. Distributed computing is a form of parallel computing, but parallel computing is most commonly used to describe program parts running simultaneously on multiple processors in the same computer. Both types of processing require dividing a program into parts that can run simultaneously, but distributed programs often must deal with heterogeneous environments, network links of varying latencies, and unpredictable failures in the network or the computers.

Organization

Organizing the interaction between the computers that execute distributed computations is of prime importance. In order to be able to use the widest possible variety of computers, the protocol or communication channel should not contain or use any information that may not be understood by certain machines. Special care must also be taken that messages are indeed delivered correctly and that invalid messages, which would otherwise bring down the system and perhaps the rest of the network, are rejected.

Another important factor is the ability to send software to another computer in a portable way so that it may execute and interact with the existing network. This may not always be practical when using differing hardware and resources, in which case other methods, such as cross-compiling or manually porting this software, must be used.

Goals and advantages

There are many different types of distributed computing systems and many challenges to overcome in successfully designing one. The main goal of a distributed computing system is to connect users and resources in a transparent, open, and scalable way. Ideally this arrangement is drastically more fault tolerant and more powerful than many combinations of stand-alone computer systems.

Openness

Openness is the property of distributed systems such that each subsystem is continually open to interaction with other systems (see references). Web services protocols are standards which enable distributed systems to be extended and scaled. In general, an open system that scales has an advantage over a perfectly closed and self-contained system. Openness cannot be archived unless the specification and documentation of the key software interface of the component of a system are made available to the software developer.

Consequently, open distributed systems are required to meet the following challenges:

Monotonicity

Once something is published in an open system, it cannot be taken back.

Different subsystems of an open distributed system include heterogeneous, overlapping and possibly conflicting information. There is no central arbiter of truth in open distributed systems.