Distributed systems and fault tolerance
Distributed systems and fault tolerance is a research topic within Computer Networks and Communications. Science Explorer counts 44k research works in it since 1950. 21.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.
This cluster of papers focuses on research related to fault tolerance, consistency, and resilience in distributed systems. It covers topics such as Byzantine fault tolerance, transactional memory, checkpointing, replication, concurrency control, and software aging. The papers explore various techniques and algorithms to ensure the reliability and consistency of data and operations in distributed environments.
- Fault Tolerance
- Distributed Systems
- Consistency
- Transactional Memory
- Byzantine Fault Tolerance
- Checkpointing
- Replication
- Concurrency Control
- Failure Prediction
- Software Aging
- Research works
- 44k fractional, since 1950
- In the world top 10%
- 9.5k per year above
- Top-10% rate
- 21.9% share of its works in the world top 10%
- Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
- -22% the tick is no change
Which countries lead Distributed systems and fault tolerance research?
By volume, the United States and China publish the most (859 and 746 works in 2022–2025).
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 United States 859 works
- 2 China 746 works
- 3 Germany 268 works
- 4 India 228 works
- 5 France 204 works
- 6 United Kingdom 161 works
- 7 Italy 147 works
- 8 Canada 114 works
- 9 Japan 111 works
- 10 Brazil 83 works
How concentrated that is
The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.
Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.
Which institutions lead Distributed systems and fault tolerance research?
By volume in 2022–2025, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Distributed systems and fault tolerance research, followed by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Carnegie Mellon University.
By volume, 2022–2025
- 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 26 works
- 2 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 25 works
- 3 Carnegie Mellon UniversityUnited States 24 works
- 4 Tsinghua UniversityChina 22 works
- 5 Technical University of MunichGermany 21 works
- 6 University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUnited States 21 works
- 7 University of WaterlooCanada 21 works
- 8 ETH ZurichSwitzerland 20 works
- 9 Xidian UniversityChina 19 works
- 10 Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyChina 18 works
Who are the leading researchers in Distributed systems and fault tolerance?
The most-cited researchers publishing on Distributed systems and fault tolerance include Ion Stoica, H. Vincent Poor and Rajkumar Buyya.
- 1 Ion Stoica United States 9.6k citations
- 2 H. Vincent Poor United States 9.5k citations
- 3 Rajkumar Buyya Australia 7.8k citations
- 4 Ronald L. Rivest United States 7.3k citations
- 5 Philip S. Yu United States 6.6k citations
Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.
Where is Distributed systems and fault tolerance research done?
The largest centres of Distributed systems and fault tolerance research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Paris (France) and Tokyo (Japan). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Saarbrücken and Waterloo.
Largest cities, 2022–2025
Where it is the local speciality
- SaarbrückenDE · 21.0 works16×
- WaterlooCA · 21.3 works8.0×
Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Distributed systems and fault tolerance than the world average.
Where is the best place to study Distributed systems and fault tolerance?
Among universities, judged by research, ETH Zurich, TU Wien and Carnegie Mellon University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.
One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.
| # | University | Score | Top 10% | Specialisation | Works | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ETH ZurichSwitzerland | 68.2 | 25.8% | 7.8× | 20 | -6.0% |
| 2 | TU WienAustria | 67.1 | 25.2% | 14.5× | 17 | -39.7% |
| 3 | Carnegie Mellon UniversityUnited States | 67.0 | 12.4% | 15.7× | 24 | +88.4% |
| 4 | Beijing University of Posts and TelecommunicationsChina | 57.2 | 25.4% | 7.3× | 17 | -13.1% |
| 5 | Technical University of MunichGermany | 56.8 | 16.8% | 7.0× | 21 | +5.2% |
| 6 | East China Normal UniversityChina | 56.7 | 11.9% | 8.6× | 16 | +117.4% |
| 7 | Technische Universität DarmstadtGermany | 56.2 | 20.2% | 9.6× | 12 | +9.9% |
| 8 | University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUnited States | 55.1 | 22.5% | 6.4× | 21 | -42.0% |
| 9 | National University of SingaporeSingapore | 52.9 | 29.2% | 3.6× | 13 | -15.2% |
| 10 | Macau University of Science and TechnologyMacau | 52.5 | 11.8% | 11.0× | 9 | — |
Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.
Is Distributed systems and fault tolerance research growing?
Output in 2018–2022 was 22% lower than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2002.
The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.
Which topics inside it are moving
Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.