distributed system
distributed systems
A collection of (probably heterogeneous) automata whose
distribution is transparent to the user so that the system
appears as one local machine. This is in contrast to a
network, where the user is aware that there are several
machines, and their location, storage replication, load
balancing and functionality is not transparent. Distributed
systems usually use some kind of {client-server} organisation.
Distributed systems are considered by some to be the "next
wave" of computing.
{Distributed Computing Environment} is the {Open Software
Foundation}'s software architecture for distributed systems.
(http://dstc.edu.au/AU/research_news/dist-env.html).
(1994-12-06)