About the Book
Networked distributed systems: Foundations, breakthroughs, and implicationsBuilding tomorrow's ubiquitous, pervasive networked computing systemsTechnologies, protocols, messaging, software, integration, collaboration, security, and moreAvoiding the eight classic fallacies of distributed computingThe role of XML, Web services, Spaces, Jini, and other key technologiesTen powerful megatrends driven by networked distributed computing Networked distributed computing (NDC) systems are driving an ongoing technological revolution that has already spawned the Internet and will soon transform the world into one ubiquitous, pervasive "information field." In Network Distributed Computing: Fitscapes and Fallacies, Max K. Goff reviews the field's crucial challenges, state-of-the-art solutions, and breathtaking future. Goff covers both the "trees" and the "forest"-showing how NDC has evolved, where it's headed, and above all, what it all means.
Building NDC "fitscapes": new frameworks that turbocharge innovationLeveraging Moore's Law, Gilder's Law, Metcalfe's Law, and the latest R and D advancesOvercoming the eight classic fallacies of distributed computingEnhancing collaboration, security, and dependability in networked computing environmentsIntegrating wired and wireless networks: key software challengesMessaging and communications protocols for distributed, interoperable systemsThe roles of XML, Web services, Spaces, Jini, and other key technologiesNDC-driven megatrends: Semantic Web, global transparency, nanotech, robotics, and beyond
Table of Contents:
Foreword from Daniel H. Steinberg.
Preface.
Acknowledgments.
1. Fitscapes and Fallacies.
The Age of the Network—The Age of Paradox. Processing Information. Organizing Information. Distributed Computing Model. “A Note on Distributed Computing”: A Discourse on Pitfalls. Eight Fallacies of Distributed Computing. NDC Context. More Thoughts on a Fitscape. Commentary.
2. Ten Technology Trends.
Wireless and Mobile Computing. Web Services and the Semantic Web. Robotics. Genomics and Biotechnology. Material Science and Nanotechnology. Internet2, Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing. Globalization, COTS, and Increasing Competition. Real-Time and Embedded Systems, Grid Computing, Clusters, and Composability. Security, Global Transparency, and Privacy. Competing NDC Frameworks, the Emerging Global OS, and Recombinant Software. Commentary: The Context of Context.
3. The Scope of NDC.
Ubiquitous Computing. Web Services. The Semantic Web. Spaces Computing. Peer-to-Peer Computing. Collaborative Computing. Dependable Systems. Security. Languages. Pervasive Computing. Cluster Concepts. Distributed Agents. Distributed Algorithms. Distributed Databases. Distributed Filesystems. Distributed Media. Distributed Storage. Grid Computing. Massively Parallel Systems. Middleware. Mobile and Wireless Computing. Network Protocols. Operating Systems. Real-Time and Embedded Systems. Commentary.
4. NDC Theory.
Theoretical Foundations of NDC. Theory Versus Practice. The Halting Problem. Message Passing Systems. Byzantine Failures. Leader Election. Mutual Exclusion. Fault Tolerance. Causality, Synchrony, and Time. Commentary.
5. NDC Protocols.
Conceptual Background. A Brief History: From ARPANET to the Modern Internet. Back at the Stack: OSI 7. TCP/IP. Email. Systems and Network Management Before Protocols. SNMP and UDP. Early Network Agents. Later Players at the OSI 7 Transport Layer.
6. NDC Messaging.
The Essence of Communication. Message Passing. Shared Memory Versus Cooked Messages. Data Transformation. Marshalling Data. Document Transformation. Synchrony. Routing. Broadcast and Multicast. Summary.
7. NDC Datacom: Wireless and Integration.
Analog Era. Digital Era. Optics, Wireless, and Network Integration. The Pi-Calculus and Protocol Hand-Over. Summary.
8. Today's NDC Frameworks.
CORBA. SOAP and XML. J2EE: “Web Services” to “Services on Demand”. J2EE Versus .NET. Conceptual Model for NDC Frameworks. Summary.
9. Tomorrow's NDC Framework Options.
The Renascence of Jini. Peer-to-Peer Networks: The Project JXTA Example. Spaces Computing. Summary.
10. Fallacies and Frameworks.
Deutsch's Eight Fallacies Re-viewed. Web Services Framework. Jini Network Technology Framework. Project JXTA Framework. Other Perspectives. Commentary.
11. Composability: Real-Time, Grids, and the Rise of an NDC Meta-@AHEADS = Architecture. Real-Time Systems. Component Composability. Grids. Meta-Architecture. Composability and Languages. Summary.
12. Innovation and Convergence.
Synergistic Convergence. NDC Attractors. The Future of NDC. Augmented Reality. Information Management Metaphors. Polyarchical Systems. Autonomic Computing. Amorphous Computing. Emergence. Fractal Patterns. Relentless Innovation.
Conclusion.
Index.
About the Author :
MAX K. GOFF, former Technology Evangelist for the Java Software Division of Sun Microsystems, travelled worldwide for six years, discussing the benefits of Java and related technologies, notably Sun's Jini protocols for developing distributed computing systems, intelligent devices, and self-configuring networks. With 20 years in software development, Goff left Sun in 2003 to leverage his technology experience in a private consulting practice for merger and acquisition events, representing medium-sized firms in the United States. Goff holds an Executive MBA from the University of San Francisco and is a professional-level member of the World Future Society.
