Advantages and Disadvantages of Distributed System

This article will provide you the pros and cons of distributed system. Before moving onto advantages and disadvantages of Distributed System. First let us the concept of distributed system.

What is Distributed System?

A distributed system is a group of autonomous computer systems that are physically distinct but linked by a centralised computer network that uses distributed system software. The autonomous computers will interact with each system by exchanging files and resources and completing the tasks assigned to them.

Each node in a distributed system functions independently and has the ability to decide locally based on its own resources and state. Through shared memory or message forwarding, nodes can communicate with one another and coordinate their actions and exchange information. Depending on the needs of the system, this communication may be synchronous or asynchronous.

Characteristics of a Distributed System

1. Concurrency: In a distributed system, multiple nodes can carry out operations simultaneously, enabling parallel processing and better performance.
2. High Scalability: Distributed systems may scale horizontally by adding more computers to the network and can support a high number of nodes. This enables them to handle rising consumer expectations and accept increasing workloads.
3. Fault-tolerance: Distributed systems are built to be fault-tolerant. The system can continue to function even if one or more nodes go down by shifting the workload to the nodes that are still up and running.
4. Transparency: By hiding the underlying architectural complexity of the system, distributed systems seek to provide users and applications with transparency. This covers the location, handling of failures, and transparency in resource access.
5. Heterogeneity: Nodes in distributed systems frequently have various hardware and software configurations. They might employ various programming languages, run on various operating systems, or have differing processing speeds. To ensure interoperability and coordination across the nodes, managing this heterogeneity is a challenge.
6. Consistency and synchronization: A major challenge is ensuring data consistency and state synchronisation among distant nodes. In order to handle concurrent updates and ensure data consistency, distributed systems use a variety of mechanisms, including distributed algorithms, consensus protocols, and distributed transactions.
7. Security and Privacy: Authentication, access control, data integrity, and confidentiality are security issues that must be addressed in distributed systems. In designing a distributed system, it is crucial to ensure safe communication and to preserve sensitive data.

Advantages of Distributed System

1. Improved Performance: Parallel processing, in which tasks are split up and carried out simultaneously by several nodes, is possible with distributed systems. Comparatively to a single, centralised system, this results in quicker execution times and better performance. The task is distributed over several nodes, which allows for optimal resource use and can accommodate heavier workloads or higher user demands.
2. Load Balancing: Load balancing strategies can be used in distributed systems to divide the workload among nodes in a fair manner. As a result, resources are used to their full potential and performance is enhanced. This prevents any one node from becoming overburdened with work. The effective scalability of resources as needed is made possible through load balancing, which also helps prevent bottlenecks.
3. Data Replication and Data Locality: Replication of data across several nodes is a common technique used in distributed systems. This raises data availability and lowers the possibility of data loss or non-availability as a result of node failures. Data can also be kept nearby nodes or users who access it frequently, lowering network latency and enhancing system performance.
4. Redundancy and Disaster Recovery: Redundancy and disaster recovery capabilities can be offered by distributed systems. The system is better able to recover from errors or disasters when data and tasks are replicated. By ensuring that there are backup resources or nodes accessible in the event of failures, redundancy helps to reduce downtime and data loss.
5. Flexibility and Modularity: Distributed systems allow for freedom in design and modularity. It is possible to build the system up of microservices or loosely linked components, which makes it simpler to create, deploy, and manage. This modular design encourages flexibility in system architecture and evolution and enables independent component scalability. This flexibility of distributed system will help in providing better user experience and helps in processing the user requests faster.
6. Geographic Distribution and Reduced Latency: Data and services can be placed closer to end consumers because of distributed systems' ability to span several different geographic regions. The system can lower latency and speed up reaction times by putting nodes in various areas. Services like content delivery networks (CDNs) or real-time applications that demand low-latency interactions will particularly benefit from this.
7. Resource sharing: Distributed systems allow multiple users and programmers to share resources. Computing resources, such as processing power, memory, and storage, can be efficiently utilized and shared across the system, resulting in resource allocation optimization.
8. Flexibility and extensibility: Distributed systems allow for the addition or removal of nodes without affecting the overall system. This enables easy scaling and adaptation to changing requirements and workloads.
9. Increased data availability: Distributed systems can replicate and spread data across numerous nodes, boosting data availability and accessibility. Even if specific nodes are inaccessible, data can still be accessed from other nodes.
10. Collaboration and coordination: Multiple people or entities can collaborate and coordinate using distributed systems. They serve as a platform for sharing resources, communicating, and synchronizing tasks, facilitating effective teamwork.
11. Improved fault isolation: Failures or faults in one component or node can be isolated and restricted in a distributed system, preventing them from affecting the entire system. This enhances system stability and decreases the impact of failures.
12. Enhanced security: Distributed systems provide increased security capabilities by utilizing distributed security techniques. By disseminating data and processing, it becomes more difficult for unauthorized entities to compromise the entire system.
13. Easier software development: Distributed systems encourage modular and decentralized software development. Developers can work on independent components or services that can be easily merged into the larger system. This increases development productivity and makes system maintenance and updates easier.
14. Increased reliability: Distributed systems are less prone to full failures or data loss when data is duplicated across numerous nodes. Even if one node fails, the system can still function with the remaining nodes.

Disadvantages of Distributed System

1. Increased communication overhead: Distributed systems often demand frequent communication and coordination among nodes. This communication cost might degrade system performance and deplete network bandwidth.
2. Higher latency: The distributed design of the system adds extra communication costs, which might result in higher latency as compared to centralized solutions. Network delays and message forwarding can all have an impact on the system's total reaction time.
3. Increased development and maintenance complexity: In comparison to centralized systems, developing and maintaining distributed systems can be more difficult and time-consuming. Coordination and synchronization of activities across numerous nodes, as well as resolving failure scenarios, necessitate extra work and knowledge.
4. Network dependency: Data interchange and coordination in distributed systems are primarily reliant on network connectivity. Network failures or latency issues can have a substantial influence on the system's performance and availability.
5. Cost and complexity of infrastructure: The networking hardware, servers, and storage required for distributed systems can be expensive and difficult to set up and manage.
6. Debugging and troubleshooting: Comparatively to a centralized system, locating and fixing problems in a distributed system can be more difficult. Advanced monitoring and diagnostic technologies are necessary to resolve issues or performance bottlenecks affecting several nodes
7. Scalability limitations: Although distributed systems are very scalable, there may be some restrictions depending on the system's design and architecture. There can be scalability bottlenecks in some apps or components that are difficult to get around.
8. Software compatibility: Multiple software components frequently operate on various nodes in distributed systems. It might be difficult to ensure compatibility and easy integration between these components, especially if they were created by various teams or organizations.
9. Security risks: Compared to centralized systems, distributed systems face more security threats. It can be more difficult and vulnerable to flaws to manage access control, authentication, and data secrecy across several nodes.
10. Consistency and data integrity: It can be difficult to guarantee consistency and data integrity among distributed nodes. It takes careful planning and implementation of techniques, such as distributed transactions or consensus protocols, to achieve global consistency in a distributed system.
11. Dependency on network stability: A reliable network infrastructure is crucial for distributed systems. System availability may be decreased or even rendered completely unavailable as a result of network failures or disturbances.
12. Complexity of failure handling: In a distributed system, handling errors can be challenging. Robust fault-tolerance methods and careful design are needed for failure scenarios to detect faults, start recovery mechanisms, and preserve consistency among nodes.
13. Lack of global view: It is difficult to monitor and manage distributed systems because they lack a centralized global view of the entire system. Decentralized monitoring and management solutions are necessary for administrators.

So, these are a few advantages and disadvantages of a distributed system. It has both pros and cons so, the choice of using a distributed system is taken by an individual depending on his/her requirement.