Achieving Real-Time in Distributed Computing: From Grids to Clouds offers over 400 accounts from a wide range of specific research efforts. Major focus is given to the need for methodologies, tools, and architectures for complex distributed systems that address the practical issues of performance guarantees, timed execution, real-time management of resources, synchronized communication under various load conditions, satisfaction of QoS constraints, as well as dealing with the trade-offs between these aspects.