Cloudant Labs on Foundational MapReduce Literature by Mike Miller.
From the post:
MapReduce is an incredibly powerful algorithm, especially when used to process large amounts of data using distributed systems of commodity hardware. It makes data processing in big, distributed, fault prone systems approachable for the typical developer. Its recent renaissance was one of the inspirations for the Cloudant product line. In fact, it helped inspire the creation of the company itself. MapReduce has also come under recent scrutiny. There are multiple implementations with specific strengths and weaknesses. It is not the best tool for all jobs, and I’ve been outspoken on that exact issue. However, it is an incredibly powerful tool if applied judiciously. It is also an extremely simple concept and a fantastic first step into the world of distributed computing. I am therefore surprised at how few people have read a small selection of enlightening publications on MapReduce. I provide below a subjective selection that I have found particularly informative, as well as the main concepts I drew from each selection.
A nice selection of readings on MapReduce.
Enjoy!