Distributed System Challenges Flashcards
Name some challenges distributed systems face
Heterogeneity, failure handling, concurrency, openness, security, scalability, transparency, quality of service
Describe heterogeneity?
Coping with system component variability
Describe failure handling?
Coping with partial failure
Describe concurrency
Correctness and performance with concurrency
Describe openness
Openness to extension or reproduction
Describe security
Protection from threats
Describe scalability
Good performance as the system grows
Describe transparency
Selective abstraction
Describe quality of service
Performance and other non-functional characteristics
How is heterogeneity overcome?
Using common protocols, interfaces and encodings
How is failure handling overcome?
Having some level of redundancy (spare or replicated resources), specific means detecting and responding to partial failures
How is concurrency overcome?
Having additional checks and communication to ensure global consistency (but these can limit performance and scalability
Use alternative approaches with weaker consistency (loosely coupled or optimistic operations)
