📖 17. Distributed Systems

📖 From Operating System • 390 questions available

About 17. Distributed Systems

A Distributed System is a collection of independent computers that are connected through a network and work together to act as a single, unified computer. Instead of one powerful machine, you have many machines (called nodes) that communicate and coordinate with each other to achieve a common goal. For the user, it feels like they are using one system, but the work is actually being shared across many machines. Examples include search engines like Google, which use thousands of servers to process your query in a fraction of a second.

The OS in a distributed system handles complex tasks like network communication, resource sharing (like files and printers), and synchronization across different machines. It manages a "distributed file system" where files are stored on multiple servers, making them accessible from any node. Key challenges include handling the failure of individual nodes (the system should still work) and ensuring security over the network. The main advantages are scalability (you can add more computers to increase power) and reliability, as a single computer failure won't take down the entire system.

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🔄 Last updated: 2026-07-27