Distributed Systems

By Andrew S. Tanenbaum and Maarten van Steen

Book Overview

This is the fourth edition of "Distributed Systems." We have stayed close to the setup of the third edition, including examples of (part of) existing distributed systems close to where general principles are discussed. For example, we have included material on blockchain systems, and discuss their various components throughout the book. We have, again, used special boxed sections for material that can be skipped at first reading.

The text has been thoroughly reviewed, revised, and updated. In particular, all the Python code has been updated to Python3, while at the same time the channel package has been almost completely revised and simplified.

Additional material, including coding examples, figures, and slides, are available at www.distributed-systems.net.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9081540637
• ISBN13: 9789081540636
• Release Date: January 2023
• Publisher: Maarten Van Steen
• Length: 684 Pages
• Weight: 2.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 7.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Distributed Systems Book

Book was in very good condition. Deliveriy was in time. I am totally satisfied with this product.

Arrived on time, perfect condition

It arrived before I even got around to checking the shipping status. It arrived untouched. If only my teacher was actually using the book!

Great book, but poor choice of cover art

Chapters 1 through 4 are a great introduction to Distributed Systems, in the case you have had less than optimal training on the subject in the past - I read these chapters at the beginning of a recent Distributed Systems graduate course since this was the situation I was in. Chapters 5 through 7, which were the main concentration in the course, are also the heart of the text: Synchronization, Consistency and Replication, and Fault Tolerance. The authors write very well, and the diagrams are among the best I have seen, especially if you think visually like me. In my opinion, some of the explanations are drawn out a bit much, or worded in a strange way, but this does not take away from the text's substance. What does subtract from my high opinion of the book is the cover art, which makes it look like a book one would read in grade school. At least one professor in the graduate school I am attending is not interested in using the text for his DS courses for that very reason.

Excellent Distributed Computing Reference

Tanenbaum and van Steen have updated their textbooks on networks and distributed systems to include chapters on Distributed Document-Based Systems (examples: The World Wide Web / Lotus Notes) and Distributed Coordination-Based Systems (examples: TIBCO/Rendezvous / JINI). There are other good chapters as well, including; Security, Distributed Object-Based Systems, Distributed File Systems, Fault Tolerance, Consistency & Replication, and more. I have always liked Tanenbaum's textbooks and picked this one up for a textbook discussion of TIBCO/Rendezvous because of my work in federated information systems. The chapter on TIBCO discusses the coordination model, architecture, messaging, events, processes, naming, synchronization, caching, replication, fault tolerance and security. There is a similar discussion on JINI and a follow-up comparative analysis of TIBCO/Rendezvous and JINI. In short, this book is an excellent reference for people of all experience and education levels working with distributed systems. Like all Tanenbaum's books, Distributed Systems is well written and easy to read. Highly Recommended!

Very detailed, very thorough, great read!

This book is a very detailed, well illustrated, and very thorough introduction to distributed systems - I greatly appreciate the comparison between WWW and Lotus Notes linking and distribution schemes. This book is a great read - there is only a little source code - pseudo code - so it is pretty easy to just read a chapter per night. I appreciate the recent printing - a great deal can change in this industry in a short time. Coulouris' book, which is very similar but with fewer illustrations, is two years old now! Highly recommended.