What is distributed computer system and parallel computer system explain with example?

Answer 1

A distributed comput(er/ing) system is a network of discrete computers that process computationally expensive data and return results to a central location for further processing. These hosts are often spread over a wide geographic area, and its contributors are often volunteers who offer up spare CPU cycles from their computers to the project. One example of distributed computing are the SETI@Home network, which analyses spectrum data received by radio arrays, looking for characteristics in the data that might indicate intelligent design.

A parallel computer system is more often a single host, or number of hosts, with multiple CPUs or multiple cores in a single CPU, with the capability of processing more than one task at the same time. This is different from multitasking in that although a computer might be handling several tasks that for the user appear to be running simultaneously, the processes are indeed handled sequentially. In a parallel computer, several tasks might be happening at the same time on different CPU cores. An example of a parallel computer system would be any multi-core processor unit, such as the AMD Phenom X2, the Intel Core 2 Duo, or the STI Cell processor (Used in for instance the Playstation 3)