Editing Distributed computing (section)

==Applications==
Reasons for using distributed systems and distributed computing may include:
* The very nature of an application may ''require'' the use of a communication network that connects several computers: for example, data produced in one physical location and required in another location.
* There are many cases in which the use of a single computer would be possible in principle, but the use of a distributed system is ''beneficial'' for practical reasons. For example:
** It can allow for much larger storage and memory, faster compute, and higher bandwidth than a single machine.
** It can provide more reliability than a non-distributed system, as there is no [[single point of failure]]. Moreover, a distributed system may be easier to expand and manage than a monolithic uniprocessor system.<ref>{{harvtxt|Elmasri|Navathe|2000}}, Section 24.1.2.</ref>
** It may be more cost-efficient to obtain the desired level of performance by using a [[Cluster (computing)|cluster]] of several low-end computers, in comparison with a single high-end computer.