13 Best Books on Distributed Systems

We have compiled a list of the Best Reference Books on Distributed Systems, which are used by students of top universities, and colleges. This will help you choose the right book depending on if you are a beginner or an expert. Here is the complete list of Distributed Systems Books with their authors, publishers, and an unbiased review of them as well as links to the Amazon website to directly purchase them. If permissible, you can also download the free PDF books on Distributed Systems below.

 
1."Distributed Algorithms" by Nancy Lynch
“Distributed Algorithms” Book Review: This book provides a thorough examination of designing, executing, and evaluating distributed algorithms. The algorithms are validated and assessed based on clearly defined complexity metrics. Moreover, readers are instructed on how to formally model distributed algorithms, develop precise specifications for desired behavior, establish correctness through proofs, and measure performance realistically. The topics covered in this edition include data consistency, resource allocation, communication, leader election, the consensus among distributed processes, deadlock detection, global snapshots, and more. This book is appropriate for students, programmers, system designers, and researchers.

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2."Distributed Operating Systems" by Andrew S Tanenbaum
Book Review: In this book, you will find a comprehensive explanation of the design and implementation of operating systems. The content delves deeply into various operating system concepts, such as communication, synchronization, processes, file systems, and distributed shared memory. Additionally, the book includes case studies of well-known operating systems such as Amoeba, Mach, Chorus, and OSF. Furthermore, it offers exclusive coverage of the latest advancements in distributed operating systems and discusses several useful algorithms.

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3."Distributed Systems" by Jie Wu
Book Review: This book covers the fundamental problems, solutions, and concepts of distributed system design. It serves as a valuable resource for both students and professionals involved in the analysis and design of distributed systems. The book’s chapters explore parallelism, interprocess communication and synchronization, the scope of distributed systems, fault-tolerant designs, and the topics of reliability, safety, and security. Additionally, the book provides an overview of distributed computing, which allows for access to computer power and data, resulting in high performance, reliability, resource sharing, flexibility, extendability, and scalability.

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4."Distributed Computing: Fundamentals, Simulations and Advanced Topics" by Hagit Attiya and Jennifer Welch
Book Review: This book is a useful resource for an introduction to the mathematical foundations of distributed computing. It covers fundamental models, issues, techniques, and a range of advanced topics. The book provides a solid introduction to the mathematical foundations and basics of distributed computing, focusing on common themes and fundamental techniques. Additionally, it discusses the challenges that arise in the design of distributed systems, including communication, synchronization, coordination, and lower-bound techniques. The book also explores various models of distributed computing, such as message passing, shared memory communication, correctness proofs, lower

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5."Distributed Systems" by Sape Mullender
Book Review: This book provides a detailed explanation of the properties of distributed systems, as well as models that depict their behavior, specification methods for concurrent systems, remote procedure calls, and name services. The book also covers cuts, snapshots, vector clocks, various broadcast mechanisms, and protocols for non-blocking atomic commitment. Other chapters discuss practical methods for protocol design in interprocess communication, the design of the Amoeba distributed system, techniques for memory and process management, and concepts related to real-time systems, dependability, process scheduling, security, and cryptography. The book offers numerous case studies and focuses on providing solutions to problems commonly faced by system designers.

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6."Distributed Systems - Principles and Paradigms" by Andrew S Tanenbaum and Maaten Van Steen
“Distributed Systems – Principles and Paradigms” Book Review: This book is about distributed systems and how they work. It talks about the basic principles in a short and complete way. It also explains advanced concepts like communication, replication, fault tolerance, security and distributed shared memory in detail. The book includes information about recent developments in distributed operating systems and how they are used in different areas. This book is for students studying computer science, computer engineering, or electrical engineering.

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7."Distributed Operating Systems" by Tanenbaum
“Distributed Operating Systems” Book Review: This book covers a range of fundamental concepts in distributed systems, including communication, synchronization, processes, and file systems. It also explores newer topics such as distributed shared memory, real-time distributed systems, fault-tolerant distributed systems, and ATM networks. In addition to numerous illustrations and exercises, the book offers four detailed case studies: Amoeba, Mach, Chorus, and OSF/DCE.

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8."Distributed Systems : Concepts and Design" by Tim Kindberg and George Coulouris Jean Dollimore
“Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design” Book Review: This book provides comprehensive coverage of the principles and fundamental concepts of distributed systems, as well as the essential issues in the debate about whether components or web services are the way forward for the industry. The depth of coverage offered in this text equips students with the ability to evaluate existing distributed systems and design new ones.

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9."Principles of Distributed Database Systems" by Ozsu
“Principles of Distributed Database Systems” Book Review: This book provides a detailed analysis of the technical challenges faced by distributed database systems worldwide. It focuses on fundamental concepts and technical issues while examining the development of DBMS. The chapters on transaction management offer in-depth discussions of advanced transaction models. Separate chapters are dedicated to parallel DBMSs, distributed object DBMSs, and the relationship between distributed DBMSs and new technologies. This book is well-suited for both students and professionals.

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10."Principles of Distributed Systems" by Roberto Baldoni and Paola Flocchini
“Principles of Distributed Systems: 16th International Conference, OPODIS 2012, Rome, Italy, December 18-20, 2012, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (7702) 2012th Edition” Book Review: The book is a comprehensive guide to distributed systems. It covers basic and advanced concepts, such as communication, replication, fault tolerance, security, and distributed shared memory. The book is especially useful for computer science, computer engineering, and electrical engineering students. It discusses recent advancements in distributed operating systems and their applications. The book is well-written and easy to understand, making it a valuable resource for anyone interested in understanding how distributed systems work.

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11."Classic Operating Systems: From Batch Processing to Distributed Systems" by Per Brinch Hansen
“Classic Operating Systems: From Batch Processing to Distributed Systems” Book Review: This book is a compilation of significant papers in the development of modern operating systems for computer science and software engineering. These papers showcase the major breakthroughs in operating system technology from the 1950s to the 1990s, making it an essential resource for graduates, professionals, and researchers in CS.

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12."Replication Techniques in Distributed Systems (Advances in Database Systems)" by imusti
“Replication Techniques in Distributed Systems (Advances in Database Systems)” Book Review: This book provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of the range of replication protocols and systems used to achieve high availability by replicating entities in failure-prone distributed computing environments. The entities covered range from passive untyped data objects to typed and complex objects, as well as processes and messages. It covers definitions, theoretical foundations, algorithms, and short guides, making it an excellent resource for graduate students, designers, and implementers of systems dealing with replication issues in distributed systems.

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13."Distributed Operating Systems: Concepts and Design" by Sinha
“Distributed Operating Systems: Concepts and Design” Book review: This book offers a thorough comprehension of components in distributed operating systems for engineers, educators, and researchers. It covers de-facto standards, design principles, and technologies that apply to various systems. The book provides chapter summaries, end-of-chapter exercises, and bibliographies to help readers assess their understanding. It concludes with four case studies that offer real-world insights into distributed operating systems.

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We have put a lot of effort into researching the best books on Distributed Systems and came out with a recommended list and their reviews. If any more book needs to be added to this list, please email us. We are working on free pdf downloads for books on Distributed Systems and will publish the download link here. Fill out this Distributed Systems books pdf download" request form for download notification.

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