Peer-to-Peer Computing: Building Supercomputers with Web Technologies (Computer Communications and Networks) - Softcover

Loo, Alfred Wai-Sing

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1846283817 ISBN 13: 9781846283819

Publisher: Springer, 2006

Synopsis

The Client/Server architecture for computing systems was first proposed in the late 1980s as an alternative to conventional mainframes. Processing in the mainframe quickly becomes a bottleneck in any system. Client/server models shift the processing burden to the client computer. Through workload sharing, client/server systems can improve efficiency while reducing costs.

Companies are again searching for ways to improve their processing power without further investment in new hardware and software. Many client computers are idle most of the time, and have unused disk space. The next logical step is to maximise the use of these computers. The peer-to-peer (P2P) model is the answer.

A new and simple peer-to-peer model will be introduced in this book, which will teach readers to install peer-to-peer systems in which users can share their computing power. The target readers are those who have basic Java knowledge and are interested in building (or testing the performance of) peer-to-peer systems.

About this title

About the Author

Dr. Alfred Loo is at the Department of Computing and Decision Sciences, Lingnan University in Hong Kong. Before he became an academic, Alfred had more than 10 years working experience in developing, maintaining and managing computer systems for shipping companies, factories, and various organizations in banking and finance. He has published 30 computer related books in Chinese and English. He is also the author of over a hundred articles in journals, proceedings, book chapters, newspapers and trade magazines. He is a Chartered Scientist (CSci), Chartered Engineer (CEng), Chartered Mathematician (CMath) and Chartered Information Technology Professional (CITP) of the United Kingdom. His research interests are in the areas of Distributed Computing, Wireless Security and Mobile Forensics.

From the Back Cover

Client/Server architecture was first proposed in the late 1980s as an alternative to conventional mainframe systems. Mainframe processing quickly becomes a bottleneck in any information system, but client/server models shift the processing burden to the client computer. Through workload sharing, client/server systems can improve overall efficiency while reducing budgets.

Companies are again searching for ways to improve their processing power without further investment in new hardware and software. Many client computers are idle most of the time, and have unused disk space. The next logical step is to maximise the resources of these computers, and the peer-to-peer (P2P) model is the answer.

A new and simple peer-to-peer model will be introduced in this book. In it:

• Readers will be taught to install peer-to-peer systems which can then manage and distribute the processing power of any number of clients.
• The size of network can range from two to over a million computers.
• The software necessary to implement peer-to-peer systems quickly can be downloaded from the book’s website at www.springer.com/1-84628-381-7/

The deployment of web technologies will enable individuals and organisations of all sizes to use computers across a network as though it were a single supercomputer to solve complex problems, and after reading this book, readers will be able to install a peer-to-peer system of any size.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1846283817
• ISBN 13: 9781846283819
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 280