Distributed Networking

- Overview

Distributed networking refers to a network system where computing power, software, and data are spread across multiple computers, allowing them to communicate and work together on complex tasks without relying on a single central point of control, essentially distributing the workload across different nodes in the network; it's a key component of distributed computing.

Key characteristics about distributed networking:

• No single central point: Unlike centralized networks, distributed networks don't rely on one primary server to manage operations; instead, each node can communicate directly with others.
• Peer-to-peer communication: In a distributed network, each computer or device can act as both a client and a server, allowing them to directly exchange data with each other.
• Resilience and fault tolerance: If one node fails in a distributed network, the system can continue functioning as other nodes can take over the workload.

Examples of distributed networking:

• The internet: The web is a prime example of a distributed network, where data is spread across numerous servers and accessed through interconnected networks.
• Peer-to-peer file sharing: Applications like BitTorrent utilize distributed networking to share files directly between users without relying on a central server.
• Cloud computing platforms: Cloud services often leverage distributed networks to distribute computing power and storage across multiple data centers.

- Distributed Networking Systems

Distributed Networking is a distributed computing network system, said to be "distributed" when the computer programming and the data to be worked on are spread out over more than one computer. Usually, this is implemented over a network, but communicate complex messages through their nodes (computers), and are dependent upon each other. 

A distributed system, also known as distributed computing, is a system with multiple components located on different machines that communicate and coordinate actions in order to appear as a single coherent system to the end-user. 

The machines that are a part of a distributed system may be computers, physical servers, virtual machines, containers, or any other node that can connect to the network, have local memory, and communicate by passing messages.

The goal of a distributed network is to share resources, typically to accomplish a single or similar goal. Usually, this takes place over a computer network, however, Internet-based computing is rising in popularity. 

Typically, a distributed networking system is composed of processes, threads, agents, and distributed objects. Merely distributed physical components is not enough to suffice as a distributed network; typically distributed networking uses concurrent program execution. 

Enterprises that have grown in scale over the years and those that are continuing to grow are finding it extremely challenging to manage their distributed network in the traditional client/server computing model. 

The developments in the field of cloud computing has opened up new possibilities. Cloud-based networking vendors have started to sprout offering solutions for enterprise distributed networking needs. Whether it turns out to revolutionize the distributed networking space or turns out to be another craze remains to be seen.

- Types of Distributed Systems

Hardware and software architectures are used to maintain a distributed system. Everything must be interconnected - CPUs via the network and processes via the communication system. Distributed systems generally fall into one of four different basic architecture models:

• Client-server - Clients contact the server for data, then format it and display it to the end-user. The end-user can also make a change from the client-side and commit it back to the server to make it permanent.
• Three-tier - Information about the client is stored in a middle tier rather than on the client to simplify application deployment. This architecture model is most common for web applications.
• n-tier - Generally used when an application or server needs to forward requests to additional enterprise services on the network.
• Peer-to-peer - There are no additional machines used to provide services or manage resources. Responsibilities are uniformly distributed among machines in the system, known as peers, which can serve as either client or server.