What is a distributed system?
A distributed system is characterized as various computing components that are spread out over a network. These devices will coordinate to complete tasks that are more efficient/not possible if a single computer were to try to achieve them. Here’s a visual example of a distributed system:
Figure 7.1 – An example of a distributed system
Distributed systems have grown in complexity over the years, but paradoxically there has never been a better time to build and run one. Due to cloud companies such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cloudflare, and DigitalOcean, getting started with complex systems is available to anyone for free where there used to be a very high barrier to entry.
A distributed system usually has the following characteristics:
- Scalable: The system can grow as workloads increase. For example, if your customers are heavily based in the United States, you may see large traffic between 9 A.M. and...
