distributed computing
distributed computing
[di‚strib·yəd·əd kəm′pyüd·iŋ]distributed computing
(1) The use of multiple computers networked throughout a geographical area. The Internet is the world's largest distributed computing platform. See also grid computing.(2) The use of multiple computers in an enterprise rather than one centralized system. This use of the term was coined in the late 1970s when minicomputers were installed in departments throughout a company instead of deploying terminals to a mainframe. Contrast with centralized processing.