/tags/distributed-computing/ Recent content in Distributed Computing on A Nickel's Worth Hugo -- gohugo.io en Fri, 20 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/avoiding-fallback-in-distributed-systems/ Fri, 20 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/avoiding-fallback-in-distributed-systems/ As previously mentioned, I was recently able to contribute to the Amazon Builders’ Library. I’d also like to share another post that I wrote for the series, entitled Avoiding fallback in distributed systems. I’m especially excited to be able to publish it, as it’s based on an internal Amazon document I wrote in 2006 entitled Modes Considered Harmful. It provoked a lot of interesting discussions over the years, so I’m happy to be able to share a (hopefully slightly better written) version of it publicly. /posts/challenges-with-distributed-systems/ Fri, 20 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/challenges-with-distributed-systems/ I was recently invited to contribute to the Amazon Builders’ Library. One article I’d been wanting to publish publicly is about how bizarre distributed systems are, and what’s been the biggest challenge building them, in my experience. Please check out the article and here’s a quick abstract: Developing distributed utility computing services, such as reliable long-distance telephone networks, or Amazon Web Services (AWS) services, is hard. Distributed computing is also weirder and less intuitive than other forms of computing because of two interrelated problems. /posts/six-audacious-goals-for-your-system/ Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0000 /posts/six-audacious-goals-for-your-system/ With apologies to the authors of the futurist programming notes, here is a set of audacious goals for your system (by which I mean your collection of web sites, webservices, databases, and so on): Make your entire system runnable (for debugging/development) on a single machine, via a single command, …without manual configuration, …without an Internet connection. Demonstrate that your system works flawlessly even when you permanently and unexpectedly unplug the power cable from any one machine (even your most precious database).