As distributed computer systems become more pervasive, there is a need for a book that explains how their operating systems are designed and implemented. This book, which is a revised and expanded Part II of the best selling MODERN OPERATING SYSTEMS, fulfills that need. KEY TOPICS: It covers the material from the original book, including communication, synchronization, processes and file systems, and adds new material on distributed shared memory. It also contains 4 detailed case studies, Amoeba, Mach, Chorus, and OSF/DCE. Tanenbaum's trademark writing style provides the reader with a thorough yet concise treatment of distributed systems.