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By Bryce Kerley Distributed systems are big, in every sense of the word. From the biggest social networks and search engines to the simplest web or iOS application, distributed software causes problems, stemming from its greatest feature: the system should continue working even when parts break. Client applications without network connections still want to capture data, backends with a failed service or two shouldn't break the entire application, and the app should still mostly work even when the big datacenter (you know the one) goes down. How do you grow a simple monolithic Rails app into a distributed system? What does it take to make your UI save data for a network connection later? How do you even test all this stuff? Help us caption & translate this video! http://amara.org/v/FG0q/
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**Growing Distributed Systems** is a talk by Bryce Kerley, presented at Ruby on Ales 2014, focusing on the challenges of developing distributed software systems. Distributed systems are defined as those that do not operate on a single computer and face constant issues due to their complex nature. Here are the key points discussed in the talk: - **Understanding Distributed Systems**: Kerley introduces the concept of distributed systems and their inherent challenges, noting that these systems are often 'always broken' due to various failures or malfunctions that occur. - **Examples and Analogies**: Kerley uses the Team Fortress 2 game to explain the propagation of events in distributed systems and how different latencies can affect outcomes. He also describes the Byzantine Generals problem, illustrating the difficulties of achieving coordination under unreliable communication. - **CAP Theorem**: A central theme is the CAP theorem, which states that in a distributed system, you can choose two out of three guarantees: consistency, availability, and partition tolerance. He explains how real-world systems often result in compromises based on this theorem. - **Real-World Examples of Failures**: Kerley provides several case studies including the 2008 Amazon S3 outage and GitHub's hardware issue in 2012, both showing the real consequences of failures in distributed systems and common pitfalls like self-organizing critical protocols. - **Database Systems**: He discusses SQL and NoSQL systems, highlighting their different approaches to consistency and availability. SQL systems adhere to ACID properties, while NoSQL systems operate under BASE principles. - **Transitioning from Monolithic to Service-Oriented Architecture**: Kerley emphasizes the need to migrate from monolithic Rails applications to a service-oriented architecture for better scalability and management of individual services. He stresses the importance of maintaining smaller, manageable deployments. - **Error Handling and User Experience**: The talk covers error handling protocols for maintaining user experience during failures. Kerley discusses the importance of designing systems that can interact correctly under diverse conditions. - **Testing and Incremental Development**: He advocates for incrementally building and testing distributed systems, suggesting that problems be resolved as they arise without reverting to a complex overhaul of the entire system. - **Offline Functionality**: The necessity for applications to handle offline scenarios is discussed, with references to technologies like operational transforms and smart client applications, which allow users to interact seamlessly even when not connected to a network. In conclusion, Kerley emphasizes that while distributed systems are complex and often fraught with issues, they can be effectively built with a focus on user value and incremental development strategies. He suggests that developers can harness the capabilities of Ruby for distributed systems without needing to pivot to other programming environments. The talk reassures attendees about the feasibility of scaling their systems while addressing the common challenges associated with distributed systems. For further insights, attendees are encouraged to consult the shared resources and to engage with the strategies discussed during the talk.
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