Erlang OTP: Distributed & Fault-Tolerant Systems Programming · Lesson

Node Communication & Setup

Learn to set up and connect multiple Erlang nodes, understanding the underlying distribution protocol and security mechanisms.

Welcome to Distributed Erlang

Erlang shines in building distributed systems! It allows multiple Erlang Virtual Machines (VMs), called nodes, to communicate seamlessly.

This lesson introduces how to set up and connect these nodes, forming the foundation for fault-tolerant and scalable applications.

Every Erlang node needs a unique name to identify itself in a distributed system. There are two types of names:

Short names (e.g., mynode): Used for nodes on the same local machine or network segment. Started with -sname.
Long names (e.g., node1@example.com): Essential for nodes distributed across different hosts and networks. Requires a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) and started with -name.

We'll primarily use short names for local examples.