Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design (International Computer Science Series) [Hardcover]

George Coulouris (Author), Jean Dollimore (Author), Tim Kindberg (Author)

Book Description

Series: International Computer Science Series | Publication Date: April 1994

The new edition of this bestselling title on Distributed Systems has been thoroughly revised throughout to reflect the state of the art in this rapidly developing field. It emphasizes the principles used in the design and construction of distributed computer systems based on networks of workstations and server computers.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

to the state of the art today."

This second edition of the bestselling text on open distributed systems is comprehensively updated and expanded to reflect recent advances in the field. The approach is based on a uniform view of resources in distributed systems using client-server and group communication models. Design approaches emphasise openness, scalability, transparency, reliability and security.

The book begins with the foundations for open distributed systems including networking, interprocess communication, remote procedure calling, name services, distributed time management and file services. It introduces new technologies including ATM networking, internetworks, multicast protocols, microkernel-based distributed operating systems and distributed shared memory. It also covers the design of services supporting the sharing of distributed data, including replication, concurrency control, recovery, fault tolerance and security.

The material is supported by definitions of service interfaces and algorithms and by copious case studies. The case studies provide an excellent insight into the current state-of-the-art in distributed system design. They include:

Networking and interprocess communication: Ethernet, Token Ring, ATM networks, Internet, FLIP, Sun RPC, ANSA testbench, Firefly RPC, Amoeba multicast Distributed file systems: Sun NFS, Andrew File System, Coda Name services: DNS, GNS, X.500 Clock synchronization: Network Time Protocol Replication: ISIS and 'gossip' architecture Security: Kerberos Microkernel-based distributed operating systems: Mach, Chorus, Amoeba, Clouds, UNIX emulation Distributed shared memory: Ivy, Munin

George Coulouris, Jean Dollimore and Tim Kindberg have based this book on courses at masters and undergraduate level given to students at Queen Mary and Westfield College in the University of London.

About the Author

George Coulouris is a Senior Visiting Fellow in the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Jean Dollimore was, until her retirement, Senior Lecturer in computer science at Queen Mary College, University of London. Tim Kindberg is a Senior Researcher at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories in Bristol. Gordon Blair is a Professor in the Lancaster University Computing Department. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 672 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Pub (Sd); 2 Sub edition (April 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201624338
• ISBN-13: 978-0201624335
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,812,093 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well-written overview of an immense area, May 13, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design (International Computer Science Series) (Hardcover)

This book takes on quite a lot of material and covers all topics quite well. As an introduction to Distributed Systems it serves as an excellent first-base and covers very current technologies such as ATM. The networking protocols section (especially for Ethernet & Token Ring) is outstanding and very well designed, while the emphasis through the text on transparency ties things together quite neatly.

The strength of this book lies in its no-nonsense approach to technical issues while remaining very considerate to the reader. A great text and hopefully the next edition will include some sections on CORBA and other object-based technologies.

Thouroughly recommended

8 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE book for people working on Distributed Systems., July 10, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design (International Computer Science Series) (Hardcover)

According to me, the book has been done very nicely. Tthe chapters have been managed carefully and efficiently. Read it once and u will surely know the HOWs , WHATs,WHYs and etcs of Distributed Systems.