Re: "Distributed" vs "Decentralized systems"

From: Lew Pitcher (Lew.Pitcher_at_td.com)
Date: 09/17/04

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    Date: Fri, 17 Sep 2004 13:31:51 -0400

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    dd wrote:
    > What is the difference between distributed and decentralized systems?

    As I understand it, a distributed system consists of a single component
    that provides a service, and one or more external system that access the
    service. Think of this as a hub and spoke design, where the hub is the
    central service and the endpoints of the spokes are the external systems.

    OTOH, a decentralized system consists of many external systems that talk
    to each other. Think of this as a fishing net design, where each knot
    represents an independant system, and the lines between the knots
    represent the communications channels between systems.

    The difference is that with a distributed system (as above), if you
    break the hub, you break the system. OTOH, if you break one of the
    systems in a decentralized system, you've only lost one element, and not
    the whole system.

    - --

    Lew Pitcher, IT Consultant, Enterprise Application Architecture
    Enterprise Technology Solutions, TD Bank Financial Group

    (Opinions expressed here are my own, not my employer's)
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