What defines distributed computing in web technology?

Distributed computing in web technology refers to a system where multiple computers work together to solve a computational problem.

Distributed computing is a model in which components of a software system are shared among multiple computers. This is done to improve efficiency and performance. In the context of web technology, distributed computing involves the use of multiple servers or computers, often located in different geographical locations, to host and run applications, manage data, and provide services over the internet.

The main goal of distributed computing is to share resources and capabilities to provide users with a single and integrated coherent network. This is achieved by dividing a program into multiple smaller parts, each of which can be processed simultaneously by different computers. The results are then combined to solve the problem. This approach can significantly reduce the time taken to process large amounts of data or complex calculations.

Distributed computing systems can be categorised into three types: client-server systems, peer-to-peer systems, and cloud computing. In a client-server system, one or more computers, known as servers, provide services to other computers, known as clients. In a peer-to-peer system, all computers in the network share resources equally and communicate directly with each other. Cloud computing is a type of distributed computing that delivers computing resources over the internet as a service.

In web technology, distributed computing is often used to handle high traffic loads, provide redundancy and failover, and ensure data integrity and security. For example, a popular website might use distributed computing to spread its traffic across multiple servers, preventing any single server from becoming a bottleneck and ensuring that the website remains available even if one server fails.

Distributed computing also enables the creation of global web services. For example, a company might use distributed computing to host its website on servers in multiple countries, ensuring that users can access the website quickly and reliably, no matter where they are located.

In conclusion, distributed computing in web technology is a powerful tool for improving performance, reliability, and scalability. It allows web services to handle large amounts of data and traffic, provide services globally, and ensure high availability and reliability.