# What Is Distributed Computing?  ## Metadata - Author: [[Max G. Levy]] - Full Title: What Is Distributed Computing? - Category: #articles - Summary: Distributed computing allows multiple machines to share the workload, making tasks more efficient. This technology started with early networks like ARPANET and evolved into the cloud, where users can rent computing power. It enhances security and reliability, suggesting that it will remain important for the future. - URL: https://www.quantamagazine.org/what-is-distributed-computing-20241125/ ## Highlights - In 1973, Xerox engineers invented the [ethernet](https://www.quantamagazine.org/bob-metcalfe-ethernet-pioneer-wins-turing-award-20230322/) connection, which allowed the first personal computers to communicate with a shared printer. Ethernet gave rise to local area networks (LANs), which by the end of the 1970s let users share files within homes or offices. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jdjecbwtw9aq5cd3t5jr1m9w)) - In 1974, [Vinton Cerf](https://www.quantamagazine.org/vint-cerfs-plan-for-building-an-internet-in-space-20201021/) and Robert Kahn documented their proposal for a set of rules they called Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, or TCP/IP. These instructions allowed information to be broken into small “packets,” sent through a network, and reassembled at the destination. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jdjxpd0q97es346w8v0jkqph))