Observable Agent Coordination in Distributed Systems: A Comparative Analysis of Architectural Approaches#
- Nils Theres
- Master of Applied IT
Abstract
The increasing complexity of distributed systems demands efficient coordination of autonomous agents while maintaining system observability. This research investigated three architectural approaches to observable agent coordination: a centralized coordina- tor design, a decentralized peer-to-peer system, and a hybrid solution which combines centralized task decomposition with distributed execution. The architectures were im- plemented as proof-of-concept prototypes to examine their structural characteristics, coordination patterns, and observability implications, supported by empirical obser- vations. The centralized approach demonstrated predictable performance and high observability but potential bottlenecks. The decentralized architecture offered better scalability at the cost of increased coordination complexity and limited observability. The hybrid approach achieved a balance between these characteristics by combining central- ized control with distributed execution and persistent messaging. The findings suggest that hybrid architectures offer a promising direction for observable agent coordination in distributed systems.