Distributed computing vs a distributed database Flashcards
What is distributed computing? Describe an example of a distributed computing project. [4]
A group of computers are networked together and they each work on solving the same problem by sharing data, processing, storage and bandwidth.
An example is the SETI@Home project (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence). It is the world’s largest distributed computing project and has over 3 million participants. Each volunteer runs a client program on their PC that downloads and analyses data from radio telescopes.
What are two advantages of distributed computing? [2]
Distributed computing is used to perform huge calculations that would be impossible on just one computer.
It’s cheaper and more practical than building a super-computer.
Continually works on a problem over a long period.
Breaks down large problems into manageable workloads.
Easy to extend – just add more volunteers’ computers (‘highly scalable’).
If one machine fails, the tasks are unaffected.
What is a distributed database? Name two advantages to a global company of distributing its database structure.
A distributed database consists of data stored on a number of computers at different locations. However, it appears as one logical database to the user. Users access the data as if it were held centrally in a single source.
What are the advantages to a large company of having a distributed database?
Less network traffic congestion for companies that have many offices in different locations. Data is held closer to where is it processed. This means less chance of bottlenecks in the network and data queries will run more quickly.
No ‘single point of failure’. If a network connection is lost, it is likely that data will still be available to users.
Improved security because data is not all held in one place that could be vulnerable to attack or accidental loss.
Resilience - some data is replicated, so applications will continue to run if one copy of the data is lost.
Reflection question: what do the two concepts have in common? Can you summarise what ‘distributed’ means in an ICT context?
They have in common that a shared resource is located in multiple different physical locations that are linked by a network.
In the case of distributed computing, processing power is contributed from multiple computers around the world.
In the case of a distributed database, data is the resource that is located on multiple computers so that users who are working in different places can query the data without experiencing network delays.
