Over the past several years, Internet users have changed in their usage p- terns from predominately client/server-based Web server interactions to also involving the use of more decentralized applications, where they contribute more equally in the role of the application as a whole, and further to d- tributed communities based around the Web. Distributed systems take many forms, appear in many areas and range from truly decentralized systems, like Gnutella, Skype and Jxta, centrally indexed brokered systems like Web s- vices and Jini and centrally coordinated systems like SETI@home. From P2P and Grids and Services on the Web Evolving Distributed Communities provides a comprehensive overview of the emerging trends in peer-to-peer (P2P), distributed objects, Web Services, the Web, and Grid computing technologies, which have rede ned the way we think about d- tributed computing and the Internet. The book has four main themes: d- tributed environments, protocols and architectures for applications, protocols and architectures focusing on middleware and nally deployment of these middleware systems, providing real-world examples of their usage.
Internet usage has evolved from a predominately client/server-based Web server interaction to additionally involving the use of more decentralized applications - through which users contribute more equally in the role of the application as a whole - and still further to distributed communities based around the Web.
This broad-ranging new edition of a classic textbook/reference provides a comprehensive overview of emerging distributed-systems technologies and has been significantly enhanced and extended to cover the many new, state-of-the-art infrastructures and technologies that have since appeared. The focus is also broadened, retaining the technical aspects, but additionally including useful historical contexts for each of the technologies.
Features:
? Fills in the gaps and includes an additional 8 chapters on highly popular developments, including BitTorrent, Web Services specifications and Web 2.0, as well as the underlying technologies used by these
? Includes helpful learning tools to aid the reader's understanding, such as a thorough foundational introduction, end-of-chapter conclusions, and pointers to online information for further reading, etc.
? Offers a more applied approach, with a comprehensive representation of the distributed systems field
? Describes various possible communication methods from history and the basic connectivity
? Presents a unique combination of P2P, Web services and grid technologies discussion that is both in-depth and accessible
? Provides additional helpful info at www.p2pgridbook.com
This easy-to-follow textbook/reference retains the detailed aspects of the successful first edition and is now substantially expanded, providing the reader with a comprehensive context in which to consider the most advanced and broad-ranging distributed systems available today. It is an essential reference text for designing new distributed systems, offeringinvaluable insight to both students and researchers.
Ian J. Taylor is a senior lecturer in the School of Computer Science at Cardiff University, teaching two Distributed Systems courses. He holds an adjunct assistant professorship at Louisiana State University and consults independently with the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C. Andrew Harrison is a research fellow/associate, also in the School of Computer Science at Cardiff University.
From the reviews:
"Provides rich background information to beginners entering this subject area. ? The diagrams ? are clear-cut, as are the snippets of codes. There are hardly any errors throughout the book. ? covers a broad and coherent range of distributed-computing techniques ? . People with different programming abilities, even those who have never written a single line of code ? learn a lot from it. ? recommend the book to anyone interested in distributed computing, especially students in the field of distributed computing ? ." (Haoyang Che, THE COMPUTER JOUNAL, Vol. 48(3), 2005)
"Specialists working on different types of novel distributed computing systems will like this book. It will be of interest, for instance, to peer-to-peer (P2P) developers who want to know how a somewhat similar idea of grid computing works, and the other way around. It would also be a good choice for laymen who are looking for a good textbook on these topics. ? For people involved with the Internet, this book is a really enjoyable journey through a number of hot topics." (Piotr Cholda, ACM Computing Reviews, July, 2009)
