d90d11ae7d
I don't want to cut this section, because the points that it makes are important ... but those points aren't a good fit for the purposes of this document. If someone needs some examples of why badly managed chain replication can lose data, this is the section to look in. ^_^
1430 lines
61 KiB
TeX
1430 lines
61 KiB
TeX
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%% \documentclass[]{report}
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\documentclass[preprint,10pt]{sigplanconf}
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% The following \documentclass options may be useful:
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% preprint Remove this option only once the paper is in final form.
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% 10pt To set in 10-point type instead of 9-point.
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% 11pt To set in 11-point type instead of 9-point.
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% authoryear To obtain author/year citation style instead of numeric.
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% \usepackage[a4paper]{geometry}
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\usepackage[dvips]{graphicx} % to include images
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%\usepackage{pslatex} % to use PostScript fonts
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\begin{document}
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%%\special{papersize=8.5in,11in}
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%%\setlength{\pdfpageheight}{\paperheight}
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%%\setlength{\pdfpagewidth}{\paperwidth}
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\conferenceinfo{}{}
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\copyrightyear{2014}
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\copyrightdata{978-1-nnnn-nnnn-n/yy/mm}
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\doi{nnnnnnn.nnnnnnn}
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\titlebanner{Draft \#0, April 2014}
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\preprintfooter{Draft \#0, April 2014}
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\title{Machi Chain Replication: management theory and design}
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\subtitle{Includes ``humming consensus'' overview}
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\authorinfo{Basho Japan KK}{}
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\maketitle
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\section{Origins}
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\label{sec:origins}
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||
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||
This document was first written during the autumn of 2014 for a
|
||
Basho-only internal audience. Since its original drafts, Machi has
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||
been designated by Basho as a full open source software project. This
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||
document has been rewritten in 2015 to address an external audience.
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||
For an overview of the design of the larger Machi system, please see
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||
\cite{machi-design}.
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||
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\section{Abstract}
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||
\label{sec:abstract}
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||
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We describe the self-management and self-reliance
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goals of the algorithm: preserve data integrity, advance the current
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state of the art, and supporting multiple consisistency levels.
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TODO Fix, after all of the recent changes to this document.
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|
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A discussion of ``humming consensus'' follows next. This type of
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consensus does not require active participation by all or even a
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||
majority of participants to make decisions. Machi's chain manager
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||
bases its logic on humming consensus to make decisions about how to
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react to changes in its environment, e.g. server crashes, network
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||
partitions, and changes by Machi cluster admnistrators. Once a
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||
decision is made during a virtual time epoch, humming consensus will
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||
eventually discover if other participants have made a different
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decision during that epoch. When a differing decision is discovered,
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new time epochs are proposed in which a new consensus is reached and
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disseminated to all available participants.
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\section{Introduction}
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\label{sec:introduction}
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\subsection{What does "self-management" mean?}
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\label{sub:self-management}
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For the purposes of this document, chain replication self-management
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is the ability for the $N$ nodes in an $N$-length chain replication chain
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to manage the state of the chain without requiring an external party
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to participate. Chain state includes:
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|
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\begin{itemize}
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\item Preserve data integrity of all data stored within the chain. Data
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loss is not an option.
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\item Stably preserve knowledge of chain membership (i.e. all nodes in
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the chain, regardless of operational status). A systems
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||
administrators is expected to make "permanent" decisions about
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chain membership.
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\item Use passive and/or active techniques to track operational
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state/status, e.g., up, down, restarting, full data sync, partial
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data sync, etc.
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\item Choose the run-time replica ordering/state of the chain, based on
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current member status and past operational history. All chain
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state transitions must be done safely and without data loss or
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corruption.
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\item As a new node is added to the chain administratively or old node is
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restarted, add the node to the chain safely and perform any data
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synchronization/"repair" required to bring the node's data into
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full synchronization with the other nodes.
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\end{itemize}
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\subsection{Ultimate goal: Preserve data integrity of Chain Replicated data}
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Preservation of data integrity is paramount to any chain state
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management technique for Machi. Even when operating in an eventually
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||
consistent mode, Machi must not lose data without cause outside of all
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||
design, e.g., all particpants crash permanently.
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||
|
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\subsection{Goal: better than state-of-the-art Chain Replication management}
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We hope/believe that this new self-management algorithem can improve
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the current state-of-the-art by eliminating all external management
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||
entities. Current state-of-the-art for management of chain
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replication chains is discussed below, to provide historical context.
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||
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\subsubsection{``Leveraging Sharding in the Design of Scalable Replication Protocols'' by Abu-Libdeh, van Renesse, and Vigfusson}
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||
\label{ssec:elastic-replication}
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||
Multiple chains are arranged in a ring (called a "band" in the paper).
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||
The responsibility for managing the chain at position N is delegated
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||
to chain N-1. As long as at least one chain is running, that is
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||
sufficient to start/bootstrap the next chain, and so on until all
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||
chains are running. The paper then estimates mean-time-to-failure
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(MTTF) and suggests a "band of bands" topology to handle very large
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clusters while maintaining an MTTF that is as good or better than
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other management techniques.
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||
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{\bf NOTE:} If the chain self-management method proposed for Machi does not
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succeed, this paper's technique is our best fallback recommendation.
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\subsubsection{An external management oracle, implemented by ZooKeeper}
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||
\label{ssec:an-oracle}
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This is not a recommendation for Machi: we wish to avoid using ZooKeeper.
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However, many other open source software products use
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||
ZooKeeper for exactly this kind of data replica management problem.
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||
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\subsubsection{An external management oracle, implemented by Riak Ensemble}
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This is a much more palatable choice than option~\ref{ssec:an-oracle}
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above. We also
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||
wish to avoid an external dependency on something as big as Riak
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Ensemble. However, if it comes between choosing Riak Ensemble or
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||
choosing ZooKeeper, the choice feels quite clear: Riak Ensemble will
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||
win, unless there is some critical feature missing from Riak
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||
Ensemble. If such an unforseen missing feature is discovered, it
|
||
would probably be preferable to add the feature to Riak Ensemble
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||
rather than to use ZooKeeper (and document it and provide product
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support for it and so on...).
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||
|
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\subsection{Goal: Support both eventually consistent \& strongly consistent modes of operation}
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||
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Machi's first use case is for Riak CS, as an eventually consistent
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store for CS's "block" storage. Today, Riak KV is used for "block"
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storage. Riak KV is an AP-style key-value store; using Machi in an
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AP-style mode would match CS's current behavior from points of view of
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both code/execution and human administrator exectations.
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Later, we wish the option of using CP support to replace other data
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store services that Riak KV provides today. (Scope and timing of such
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replacement TBD.)
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We believe this algorithm allows a Machi cluster to fragment into
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arbitrary islands of network partition, all the way down to 100\% of
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members running in complete network isolation from each other.
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Furthermore, it provides enough agreement to allow
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formerly-partitioned members to coordinate the reintegration \&
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reconciliation of their data when partitions are healed.
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\subsection{Anti-goal: minimize churn}
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This algorithm's focus is data safety and not availability. If
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participants have differing notions of time, e.g., running on
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extremely fast or extremely slow hardware, then this algorithm will
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"churn" in different states where the chain's data would be
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effectively unavailable.
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In practice, however, any series of network partition changes that
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case this algorithm to churn will cause other management techniques
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(such as an external "oracle") similar problems.
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{\bf [Proof by handwaving assertion.]}
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See also: Section~\ref{sub:time-model}
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\section{Assumptions}
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\label{sec:assumptions}
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Given a long history of consensus algorithms (viewstamped replication,
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Paxos, Raft, et al.), why bother with a slightly different set of
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assumptions and a slightly different protocol?
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The answer lies in one of our explicit goals: to have an option of
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running in an "eventually consistent" manner. We wish to be able to
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make progress, i.e., remain available in the CAP sense, even if we are
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partitioned down to a single isolated node. VR, Paxos, and Raft
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||
alone are not sufficient to coordinate service availability at such
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small scale.
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\subsection{The CORFU protocol is correct}
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This work relies tremendously on the correctness of the CORFU
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protocol \cite{corfu1}, a cousin of the Paxos protocol.
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If the implementation of
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this self-management protocol breaks an assumption or prerequisite of
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CORFU, then we expect that Machi's implementation will be flawed.
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\subsection{Communication model: asyncronous message passing}
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||
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The network is unreliable: messages may be arbitrarily dropped and/or
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reordered. Network partitions may occur at any time.
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Network partitions may be asymmetric, e.g., a message can be sent
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from $A \rightarrow B$, but messages from $B \rightarrow A$ can be
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lost, dropped, and/or arbitrarily delayed.
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System particpants may be buggy but not actively malicious/Byzantine.
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\subsection{Time model}
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\label{sub:time-model}
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Our time model is per-node wall-clock time clocks, loosely
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synchronized by NTP.
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The protocol and algorithm presented here do not specify or require any
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timestamps, physical or logical. Any mention of time inside of data
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structures are for human/historic/diagnostic purposes only.
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Having said that, some notion of physical time is suggested for
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purposes of efficiency. It's recommended that there be some "sleep
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time" between iterations of the algorithm: there is no need to "busy
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wait" by executing the algorithm as quickly as possible. See below,
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"sleep intervals between executions".
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\subsection{Failure detector model: weak, fallible, boolean}
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We assume that the failure detector that the algorithm uses is weak,
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it's fallible, and it informs the algorithm in boolean status
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updates/toggles as a node becomes available or not.
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If the failure detector is fallible and tells us a mistaken status
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change, then the algorithm will "churn" the operational state of the
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chain, e.g. by removing the failed node from the chain or adding a
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(re)started node (that may not be alive) to the end of the chain.
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Such extra churn is regrettable and will cause periods of delay as the
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"rough consensus" (decribed below) decision is made. However, the
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churn cannot (we assert/believe) cause data loss.
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\subsection{Use of the ``wedge state''}
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||
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A participant in Chain Replication will enter "wedge state", as
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described by the Machi high level design \cite{machi-design} and by CORFU,
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when it receives information that
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a newer projection (i.e., run-time chain state reconfiguration) is
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available. The new projection may be created by a system
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administrator or calculated by the self-management algorithm.
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Notification may arrive via the projection store API or via the file
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I/O API.
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||
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When in wedge state, the server will refuse all file write I/O API
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requests until the self-management algorithm has determined that
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"rough consensus" has been decided (see next bullet item). The server
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may also refuse file read I/O API requests, depending on its CP/AP
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operation mode.
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\subsection{Use of ``humming consensus''}
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||
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CS literature uses the word "consensus" in the context of the problem
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description at
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{\tt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Consensus\_(computer\_science)\#Problem\_description}.
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This traditional definition differs from what is described here as
|
||
``humming consensus''.
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"Humming consensus" describes
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consensus that is derived only from data that is visible/known at the current
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time. This implies that a network partition may be in effect and that
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not all chain members are reachable. The algorithm will calculate
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an approximate consensus despite not having input from all/majority
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of chain members. Humming consensus may proceed to make a
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decision based on data from only a single participant, i.e., only the local
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node.
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See Section~\ref{sec:humming-consensus} for detailed discussion.
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\section{The projection store}
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||
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The Machi chain manager relies heavily on a key-value store of
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write-once registers called the ``projection store''.
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Each participating chain node has its own projection store.
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The store's key is a positive integer;
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the integer represents the epoch number of the projection. The
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store's value is either the special `unwritten' value\footnote{We use
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||
$\emptyset$ to denote the unwritten value.} or else an
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application-specific binary blob that is immutable thereafter.
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||
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The projection store is vital for the correct implementation of humming
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consensus (Section~\ref{sec:humming-consensus}).
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||
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All parts store described below may be read by any cluster member.
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||
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\subsection{The publicly-writable half of the projection store}
|
||
|
||
The publicly-writable projection store is used to share information
|
||
during the first half of the self-management algorithm. Any chain
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||
member may write a projection to this store.
|
||
|
||
\subsection{The privately-writable half of the projection store}
|
||
|
||
The privately-writable projection store is used to store the humming consensus
|
||
result that has been chosen by the local node. Only
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||
the local server may write values into this store.
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||
|
||
The private projection store serves multiple purposes, including:
|
||
|
||
\begin{itemize}
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||
\item remove/clear the local server from ``wedge state''
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||
\item act as the store of record for chain state transitions
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||
\item communicate to remote nodes the past states and current operational
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||
state of the local node
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\end{itemize}
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||
|
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\section{Projections: calculation, storage, and use}
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||
\label{sec:projections}
|
||
|
||
Machi uses a ``projection'' to determine how its Chain Replication replicas
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||
should operate; see \cite{machi-design} and
|
||
\cite{corfu1}. At runtime, a cluster must be able to respond both to
|
||
administrative changes (e.g., substituting a failed server box with
|
||
replacement hardware) as well as local network conditions (e.g., is
|
||
there a network partition?).
|
||
|
||
The concept of a projection is borrowed
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||
from CORFU but has a longer history, e.g., the Hibari key-value store
|
||
\cite{cr-theory-and-practice} and goes back in research for decades,
|
||
e.g., Porcupine \cite{porcupine}.
|
||
|
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\subsection{The projection data structure}
|
||
\label{sub:the-projection}
|
||
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{\bf NOTE:} This section is a duplicate of the ``The Projection and
|
||
the Projection Epoch Number'' section of \cite{machi-design}.
|
||
|
||
The projection data
|
||
structure defines the current administration \& operational/runtime
|
||
configuration of a Machi cluster's single Chain Replication chain.
|
||
Each projection is identified by a strictly increasing counter called
|
||
the Epoch Projection Number (or more simply ``the epoch'').
|
||
|
||
Projections are calculated by each server using input from local
|
||
measurement data, calculations by the server's chain manager
|
||
(see below), and input from the administration API.
|
||
Each time that the configuration changes (automatically or by
|
||
administrator's request), a new epoch number is assigned
|
||
to the entire configuration data structure and is distributed to
|
||
all servers via the server's administration API. Each server maintains the
|
||
current projection epoch number as part of its soft state.
|
||
|
||
Pseudo-code for the projection's definition is shown in
|
||
Figure~\ref{fig:projection}. To summarize the major components:
|
||
|
||
\begin{figure}
|
||
\begin{verbatim}
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||
-type m_server_info() :: {Hostname, Port,...}.
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||
-record(projection, {
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||
epoch_number :: m_epoch_n(),
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||
epoch_csum :: m_csum(),
|
||
creation_time :: now(),
|
||
author_server :: m_server(),
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||
all_members :: [m_server()],
|
||
active_upi :: [m_server()],
|
||
active_all :: [m_server()],
|
||
down_members :: [m_server()],
|
||
dbg_annotations :: proplist()
|
||
}).
|
||
\end{verbatim}
|
||
\caption{Sketch of the projection data structure}
|
||
\label{fig:projection}
|
||
\end{figure}
|
||
|
||
\begin{itemize}
|
||
\item {\tt epoch\_number} and {\tt epoch\_csum} The epoch number and
|
||
projection checksum are unique identifiers for this projection.
|
||
\item {\tt creation\_time} Wall-clock time, useful for humans and
|
||
general debugging effort.
|
||
\item {\tt author\_server} Name of the server that calculated the projection.
|
||
\item {\tt all\_members} All servers in the chain, regardless of current
|
||
operation status. If all operating conditions are perfect, the
|
||
chain should operate in the order specified here.
|
||
\item {\tt active\_upi} All active chain members that we know are
|
||
fully repaired/in-sync with each other and therefore the Update
|
||
Propagation Invariant (Section~\ref{sub:upi} is always true.
|
||
\item {\tt active\_all} All active chain members, including those that
|
||
are under active repair procedures.
|
||
\item {\tt down\_members} All members that the {\tt author\_server}
|
||
believes are currently down or partitioned.
|
||
\item {\tt dbg\_annotations} A ``kitchen sink'' proplist, for code to
|
||
add any hints for why the projection change was made, delay/retry
|
||
information, etc.
|
||
\end{itemize}
|
||
|
||
\subsection{Why the checksum field?}
|
||
|
||
According to the CORFU research papers, if a server node $S$ or client
|
||
node $C$ believes that epoch $E$ is the latest epoch, then any information
|
||
that $S$ or $C$ receives from any source that an epoch $E+\delta$ (where
|
||
$\delta > 0$) exists will push $S$ into the "wedge" state and $C$ into a mode
|
||
of searching for the projection definition for the newest epoch.
|
||
|
||
In the humming consensus description in
|
||
Section~\ref{sec:humming-consensus}, it should become clear that it's
|
||
possible to have a situation where two nodes make proposals
|
||
for a single epoch number. In the simplest case, assume a chain of
|
||
nodes $A$ and $B$. Assume that a symmetric network partition between
|
||
$A$ and $B$ happens. Also, let's assume that operating in
|
||
AP/eventually consistent mode.
|
||
|
||
On $A$'s network-partitioned island, $A$ can choose
|
||
an active chain definition of {\tt [A]}.
|
||
Similarly $B$ can choose a definition of {\tt [B]}. Both $A$ and $B$
|
||
might choose the
|
||
epoch for their proposal to be \#42. Because each are separated by
|
||
network partition, neither can realize the conflict.
|
||
|
||
When the network partition heals, it can become obvious to both
|
||
servers that there are conflicting values for epoch \#42. If we
|
||
use CORFU's protocol design, which identifies the epoch identifier as
|
||
an integer only, then the integer 42 alone is not sufficient to
|
||
discern the differences between the two projections.
|
||
|
||
Humming consensus requires that any projection be identified by both
|
||
the epoch number and the projection checksum, as described in
|
||
Section~\ref{sub:the-projection}.
|
||
|
||
\section{Phases of projection change}
|
||
\label{sec:phases-of-projection-change}
|
||
|
||
Machi's use of projections is in four discrete phases and are
|
||
discussed below: network monitoring,
|
||
projection calculation, projection storage, and
|
||
adoption of new projections. The phases are described in the
|
||
subsections below. The reader should then be able to recognize each
|
||
of these phases when reading the humming consensus algorithm
|
||
description in Section~\ref{sec:humming-consensus}.
|
||
|
||
\subsection{Network monitoring}
|
||
\label{sub:network-monitoring}
|
||
|
||
Monitoring of local network conditions can be implemented in many
|
||
ways. None are mandatory, as far as this RFC is concerned.
|
||
Easy-to-maintain code should be the primary driver for any
|
||
implementation. Early versions of Machi may use some/all of the
|
||
following techniques:
|
||
|
||
\begin{itemize}
|
||
\item Internal ``no op'' FLU-level protocol request \& response.
|
||
\item Explicit connections of remote {\tt epmd} services, e.g., to
|
||
tell the difference between a dead Erlang VM and a dead
|
||
machine/hardware node.
|
||
\item Network tests via ICMP {\tt ECHO\_REQUEST}, a.k.a. {\tt ping(8)}
|
||
\end{itemize}
|
||
|
||
Output of the monitor should declare the up/down (or
|
||
available/unavailable) status of each server in the projection. Such
|
||
Boolean status does not eliminate ``fuzzy logic'' or probabilistic
|
||
methods for determining status. Instead, hard Boolean up/down status
|
||
decisions are required by the projection calculation phase
|
||
(Section~\ref{subsub:projection-calculation}).
|
||
|
||
\subsection{Projection data structure calculation}
|
||
\label{subsub:projection-calculation}
|
||
|
||
Each Machi server will have an independent agent/process that is
|
||
responsible for calculating new projections. A new projection may be
|
||
required whenever an administrative change is requested or in response
|
||
to network conditions (e.g., network partitions).
|
||
|
||
Projection calculation will be a pure computation, based on input of:
|
||
|
||
\begin{enumerate}
|
||
\item The current projection epoch's data structure
|
||
\item Administrative request (if any)
|
||
\item Status of each server, as determined by network monitoring
|
||
(Section~\ref{sub:network-monitoring}).
|
||
\end{enumerate}
|
||
|
||
All decisions about {\em when} to calculate a projection must be made
|
||
using additional runtime information. Administrative change requests
|
||
probably should happen immediately. Change based on network status
|
||
changes may require retry logic and delay/sleep time intervals.
|
||
|
||
\subsection{Projection storage: writing}
|
||
\label{sub:proj-storage-writing}
|
||
|
||
Individual replicas of the projections written to participating
|
||
projection stores are not managed by Chain Replication --- if they
|
||
were, we would have a circular dependency! See
|
||
Section~\ref{sub:proj-store-writing} for the technique for writing
|
||
projections to all participating servers' projection stores.
|
||
|
||
\subsection{Adoption of new projections}
|
||
|
||
The projection store's ``best value'' for the largest written epoch
|
||
number at the time of the read is projection used by the server.
|
||
If the read attempt for projection $P_p$
|
||
also yields other non-best values, then the
|
||
projection calculation subsystem is notified. This notification
|
||
may/may not trigger a calculation of a new projection $P_{p+1}$ which
|
||
may eventually be stored and so
|
||
resolve $P_p$'s replicas' ambiguity.
|
||
|
||
\section{Humming consensus's management of multiple projection store}
|
||
|
||
Individual replicas of the projections written to participating
|
||
projection stores are not managed by Chain Replication.
|
||
|
||
An independent replica management technique very similar to the style
|
||
used by both Riak Core \cite{riak-core} and Dynamo is used.
|
||
The major difference is
|
||
that successful return status from (minimum) a quorum of participants
|
||
{\em is not required}.
|
||
|
||
\subsection{Read repair: repair only when unwritten}
|
||
|
||
The idea of ``read repair'' is also shared with Riak Core and Dynamo
|
||
systems. However, there is a case read repair cannot truly ``fix'' a
|
||
key because two different values have been written by two different
|
||
replicas.
|
||
|
||
Machi's projection store is write-once, and there is no ``undo'' or
|
||
``delete'' or ``overwrite'' in the projection store API. It doesn't
|
||
matter what caused the two different values. In case of multiple
|
||
values, all participants in humming consensus merely agree that there
|
||
were multiple opinions at that epoch which must be resolved by the
|
||
creation and writing of newer projections with later epoch numbers.
|
||
|
||
Machi's projection store read repair can only repair values that are
|
||
unwritten, i.e., storing $\emptyset$.
|
||
|
||
\subsection{Projection storage: writing}
|
||
\label{sub:proj-store-writing}
|
||
|
||
All projection data structures are stored in the write-once Projection
|
||
Store that is run by each server. (See also \cite{machi-design}.)
|
||
|
||
Writing the projection follows the two-step sequence below.
|
||
|
||
\begin{enumerate}
|
||
\item Write $P_{new}$ to the local projection store. (As a side
|
||
effect,
|
||
this will trigger
|
||
``wedge'' status in the local server, which will then cascade to other
|
||
projection-related behavior within that server.)
|
||
\item Write $P_{new}$ to the remote projection store of {\tt all\_members}.
|
||
Some members may be unavailable, but that is OK.
|
||
\end{enumerate}
|
||
|
||
In cases of {\tt error\_written} status,
|
||
the process may be aborted and read repair
|
||
triggered. The most common reason for {\tt error\_written} status
|
||
is that another actor in the system has
|
||
already calculated another (perhaps different) projection using the
|
||
same projection epoch number and that
|
||
read repair is necessary. Note that {\tt error\_written} may also
|
||
indicate that another actor has performed read repair on the exact
|
||
projection value that the local actor is trying to write!
|
||
|
||
\section{Reading from the projection store}
|
||
\label{sec:proj-store-reading}
|
||
|
||
Reading data from the projection store is similar in principle to
|
||
reading from a Chain Replication-managed server system. However, the
|
||
projection store does not use the strict replica ordering that
|
||
Chain Replication does. For any projection store key $K_n$, the
|
||
participating servers may have different values for $K_n$. As a
|
||
write-once store, it is impossible to mutate a replica of $K_n$. If
|
||
replicas of $K_n$ differ, then other parts of the system (projection
|
||
calculation and storage) are responsible for reconciling the
|
||
differences by writing a later key,
|
||
$K_{n+x}$ when $x>0$, with a new projection.
|
||
|
||
Projection store reads are ``best effort''. The projection used is chosen from
|
||
all replica servers that are available at the time of the read. The
|
||
minimum number of replicas is only one: the local projection store
|
||
should always be available, even if no other remote replica projection
|
||
stores are available.
|
||
|
||
For any key $K$, different projection stores $S_a$ and $S_b$ may store
|
||
nothing (i.e., {\tt error\_unwritten} when queried) or store different
|
||
values, $P_a \ne P_b$, despite having the same projection epoch
|
||
number. The following ranking rules are used to
|
||
determine the ``best value'' of a projection, where highest rank of
|
||
{\em any single projection} is considered the ``best value'':
|
||
|
||
\begin{enumerate}
|
||
\item An unwritten value is ranked at a value of $-1$.
|
||
\item A value whose {\tt author\_server} is at the $I^{th}$ position
|
||
in the {\tt all\_members} list has a rank of $I$.
|
||
\item A value whose {\tt dbg\_annotations} and/or other fields have
|
||
additional information may increase/decrease its rank, e.g.,
|
||
increase the rank by $10.25$.
|
||
\end{enumerate}
|
||
|
||
Rank rules \#2 and \#3 are intended to avoid worst-case ``thrashing''
|
||
of different projection proposals.
|
||
|
||
The concept of ``read repair'' of an unwritten key is the same as
|
||
Chain Replication's. If a read attempt for a key $K$ at some server
|
||
$S$ results in {\tt error\_unwritten}, then all of the other stores in
|
||
the {\tt \#projection.all\_members} list are consulted. If there is a
|
||
unanimous value $V_{u}$ elsewhere, then $V_{u}$ is use to repair all
|
||
unwritten replicas. If the value of $K$ is not unanimous, then the
|
||
``best value'' $V_{best}$ is used for the repair. If all respond with
|
||
{\tt error\_unwritten}, repair is not required.
|
||
|
||
\section{Humming Consensus}
|
||
\label{sec:humming-consensus}
|
||
|
||
Sources for background information include:
|
||
|
||
\begin{itemize}
|
||
\item ``On Consensus and Humming in the IETF'' \cite{rfc-7282}, for
|
||
background on the use of humming during meetings of the IETF.
|
||
|
||
\item ``On `Humming Consensus', an allegory'' \cite{humming-consensus-allegory},
|
||
for an allegory in the style (?) of Leslie Lamport's original Paxos
|
||
paper.
|
||
\end{itemize}
|
||
|
||
|
||
\subsection{Summary of humming consensus}
|
||
|
||
"Humming consensus" describes
|
||
consensus that is derived only from data that is visible/known at the current
|
||
time. This implies that a network partition may be in effect and that
|
||
not all chain members are reachable. The algorithm will calculate
|
||
an approximate consensus despite not having input from all/majority
|
||
of chain members. Humming consensus may proceed to make a
|
||
decision based on data from only a single participant, i.e., only the local
|
||
node.
|
||
|
||
\begin{itemize}
|
||
|
||
\item When operating in AP mode, i.e., in eventual consistency mode, humming
|
||
consensus may reconfigure chain of length $N$ into $N$
|
||
independent chains of length 1. When a network partition heals, the
|
||
humming consensus is sufficient to manage the chain so that each
|
||
replica's data can be repaired/merged/reconciled safely.
|
||
Other features of the Machi system are designed to assist such
|
||
repair safely.
|
||
|
||
\item When operating in CP mode, i.e., in strong consistency mode, humming
|
||
consensus would require additional restrictions. For example, any
|
||
chain that didn't have a minimum length of the quorum majority size of
|
||
all members would be invalid and therefore would not move itself out
|
||
of wedged state. In very general terms, this requirement for a quorum
|
||
majority of surviving participants is also a requirement for Paxos,
|
||
Raft, and ZAB. See Section~\ref{sec:split-brain-management} for a
|
||
proposal to handle ``split brain'' scenarios while in CPU mode.
|
||
|
||
\end{itemize}
|
||
|
||
If a decision is made during epoch $E$, humming consensus will
|
||
eventually discover if other participants have made a different
|
||
decision during epoch $E$. When a differing decision is discovered,
|
||
newer \& later time epochs are defined by creating new projections
|
||
with epochs numbered by $E+\delta$ (where $\delta > 0$).
|
||
The distribution of the $E+\delta$ projections will bring all visible
|
||
participants into the new epoch $E+delta$ and then into consensus.
|
||
|
||
\section{Just in case Humming Consensus doesn't work for us}
|
||
|
||
There are some unanswered questions about Machi's proposed chain
|
||
management technique. The problems that we guess are likely/possible
|
||
include:
|
||
|
||
\begin{itemize}
|
||
|
||
\item Thrashing or oscillating between a pair (or more) of
|
||
projections. It's hoped that the ``best projection'' ranking system
|
||
will be sufficient to prevent endless thrashing of projections, but
|
||
it isn't yet clear that it will be.
|
||
|
||
\item Partial (and/or one-way) network splits which cause partially
|
||
connected graphs of inter-node connectivity. Groups of nodes that
|
||
are completely isolated aren't a problem. However, partially
|
||
connected groups of nodes is an unknown. Intuition says that
|
||
communication (via the projection store) with ``bridge nodes'' in a
|
||
partially-connected network ought to settle eventually on a
|
||
projection with high rank, e.g., the projection on an island
|
||
subcluster of nodes with the largest author node name. Some corner
|
||
case(s) may exist where this intuition is not correct.
|
||
|
||
\item CP Mode management via the method proposed in
|
||
Section~\ref{sec:split-brain-management} may not be sufficient in
|
||
all cases.
|
||
|
||
\end{itemize}
|
||
|
||
\subsection{Alternative: Elastic Replication}
|
||
|
||
Using Elastic Replication (Section~\ref{ssec:elastic-replication}) is
|
||
our preferred alternative, if Humming Consensus is not usable.
|
||
|
||
Elastic chain replication is a technique described in
|
||
\cite{elastic-chain-replication}. It describes using multiple chains
|
||
to monitor each other, as arranged in a ring where a chain at position
|
||
$x$ is responsible for chain configuration and management of the chain
|
||
at position $x+1$.
|
||
|
||
\subsection{Alternative: Hibari's ``Admin Server''
|
||
and Elastic Chain Replication}
|
||
|
||
See Section 7 of \cite{cr-theory-and-practice} for details of Hibari's
|
||
chain management agent, the ``Admin Server''. In brief:
|
||
|
||
\begin{itemize}
|
||
\item The Admin Server is intentionally a single point of failure in
|
||
the same way that the instance of Stanchion in a Riak CS cluster
|
||
is an intentional single
|
||
point of failure. In both cases, strict
|
||
serialization of state changes is more important than 100\%
|
||
availability.
|
||
|
||
\item For higher availability, the Hibari Admin Server is usually
|
||
configured in an active/standby manner. Status monitoring and
|
||
application failover logic is provided by the built-in capabilities
|
||
of the Erlang/OTP application controller.
|
||
|
||
\end{itemize}
|
||
|
||
\section{``Split brain'' management in CP Mode}
|
||
\label{sec:split-brain-management}
|
||
|
||
Split brain management is a thorny problem. The method presented here
|
||
is one based on pragmatics. If it doesn't work, there isn't a serious
|
||
worry, because Machi's first serious use case all require only AP Mode.
|
||
If we end up falling back to ``use Riak Ensemble'' or ``use ZooKeeper'',
|
||
then perhaps that's
|
||
fine enough. Meanwhile, let's explore how a
|
||
completely self-contained, no-external-dependencies
|
||
CP Mode Machi might work.
|
||
|
||
Wikipedia's description of the quorum consensus solution\footnote{See
|
||
{\tt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain\_(computing)}.} is nice
|
||
and short:
|
||
|
||
\begin{quotation}
|
||
A typical approach, as described by Coulouris et al.,[4] is to use a
|
||
quorum-consensus approach. This allows the sub-partition with a
|
||
majority of the votes to remain available, while the remaining
|
||
sub-partitions should fall down to an auto-fencing mode.
|
||
\end{quotation}
|
||
|
||
This is the same basic technique that
|
||
both Riak Ensemble and ZooKeeper use. Machi's
|
||
extensive use of write-registers are a big advantage when implementing
|
||
this technique. Also very useful is the Machi ``wedge'' mechanism,
|
||
which can automatically implement the ``auto-fencing'' that the
|
||
technique requires. All Machi servers that can communicate with only
|
||
a minority of other servers will automatically ``wedge'' themselves
|
||
and refuse all requests for service until communication with the
|
||
majority can be re-established.
|
||
|
||
\subsection{The quorum: witness servers vs. full servers}
|
||
|
||
In any quorum-consensus system, at least $2f+1$ participants are
|
||
required to survive $f$ participant failures. Machi can implement a
|
||
technique of ``witness servers'' servers to bring the total cost
|
||
somewhere in the middle, between $2f+1$ and $f+1$, depending on your
|
||
point of view.
|
||
|
||
A ``witness server'' is one that participates in the network protocol
|
||
but does not store or manage all of the state that a ``full server''
|
||
does. A ``full server'' is a Machi server as
|
||
described by this RFC document. A ``witness server'' is a server that
|
||
only participates in the projection store and projection epoch
|
||
transition protocol and a small subset of the file access API.
|
||
A witness server doesn't actually store any
|
||
Machi files. A witness server is almost stateless, when compared to a
|
||
full Machi server.
|
||
|
||
A mixed cluster of witness and full servers must still contain at
|
||
least $2f+1$ participants. However, only $f+1$ of them are full
|
||
participants, and the remaining $f$ participants are witnesses. In
|
||
such a cluster, any majority quorum must have at least one full server
|
||
participant.
|
||
|
||
Witness FLUs are always placed at the front of the chain. As stated
|
||
above, there may be at most $f$ witness FLUs. A functioning quorum
|
||
majority
|
||
must have at least $f+1$ FLUs that can communicate and therefore
|
||
calculate and store a new unanimous projection. Therefore, any FLU at
|
||
the tail of a functioning quorum majority chain must be full FLU. Full FLUs
|
||
actually store Machi files, so they have no problem answering {\tt
|
||
read\_req} API requests.\footnote{We hope that it is now clear that
|
||
a witness FLU cannot answer any Machi file read API request.}
|
||
|
||
Any FLU that can only communicate with a minority of other FLUs will
|
||
find that none can calculate a new projection that includes a
|
||
majority of FLUs. Any such FLU, when in CP mode, would then move to
|
||
wedge state and remain wedged until the network partition heals enough
|
||
to communicate with the majority side. This is a nice property: we
|
||
automatically get ``fencing'' behavior.\footnote{Any FLU on the minority side
|
||
is wedged and therefore refuses to serve because it is, so to speak,
|
||
``on the wrong side of the fence.''}
|
||
|
||
There is one case where ``fencing'' may not happen: if both the client
|
||
and the tail FLU are on the same minority side of a network partition.
|
||
Assume the client and FLU $F_z$ are on the "wrong side" of a network
|
||
split; both are using projection epoch $P_1$. The tail of the
|
||
chain is $F_z$.
|
||
|
||
Also assume that the "right side" has reconfigured and is using
|
||
projection epoch $P_2$. The right side has mutated key $K$. Meanwhile,
|
||
nobody on the "right side" has noticed anything wrong and is happy to
|
||
continue using projection $P_1$.
|
||
|
||
\begin{itemize}
|
||
\item {\bf Option a}: Now the wrong side client reads $K$ using $P_1$ via
|
||
$F_z$. $F_z$ does not detect an epoch problem and thus returns an
|
||
answer. Given our assumptions, this value is stale. For some
|
||
client use cases, this kind of staleness may be OK in trade for
|
||
fewer network messages per read \ldots so Machi may
|
||
have a configurable option to permit it.
|
||
\item {\bf Option b}: The wrong side client must confirm that $P_1$ is
|
||
in use by a full majority of chain members, including $F_z$.
|
||
\end{itemize}
|
||
|
||
Attempts using Option b will fail for one of two reasons. First, if
|
||
the client can talk to a FLU that is using $P_2$, the client's
|
||
operation must be retried using $P_2$. Second, the client will time
|
||
out talking to enough FLUs so that it fails to get a quorum's worth of
|
||
$P_1$ answers. In either case, Option B will always fail a client
|
||
read and thus cannot return a stale value of $K$.
|
||
|
||
\subsection{Witness FLU data and protocol changes}
|
||
|
||
Some small changes to the projection's data structure
|
||
are required (relative to the initial spec described in
|
||
\cite{machi-design}). The projection itself
|
||
needs new annotation to indicate the operating mode, AP mode or CP
|
||
mode. The state type notifies the chain manager how to
|
||
react in network partitions and how to calculate new, safe projection
|
||
transitions and which file repair mode to use
|
||
(Section~\ref{sec:repair-entire-files}).
|
||
Also, we need to label member FLU servers as full- or
|
||
witness-type servers.
|
||
|
||
Write API requests are processed by witness servers in {\em almost but
|
||
not quite} no-op fashion. The only requirement of a witness server
|
||
is to return correct interpretations of local projection epoch
|
||
numbers, via the {\tt error\_bad\_epoch} and {\tt error\_wedged} error
|
||
codes. In fact, a new API call is sufficient for querying witness
|
||
servers: {\tt \{check\_epoch, m\_epoch()\}}.
|
||
Any client write operation sends the {\tt
|
||
check\_\-epoch} API command to witness FLUs and sends the usual {\tt
|
||
write\_\-req} command to full FLUs.
|
||
|
||
\section{Chain Replication: proof of correctness}
|
||
\label{sec:cr-proof}
|
||
|
||
See Section~3 of \cite{chain-replication} for a proof of the
|
||
correctness of Chain Replication. A short summary is provide here.
|
||
Readers interested in good karma should read the entire paper.
|
||
|
||
\subsection{The Update Propagation Invariant}
|
||
\label{sub:upi}
|
||
|
||
``Update Propagation Invariant'' is the original chain replication
|
||
paper's name for the
|
||
$H_i \succeq H_j$
|
||
property mentioned in Figure~\ref{tab:chain-order}.
|
||
This paper will use the same name.
|
||
This property may also be referred to by its acronym, ``UPI''.
|
||
|
||
\subsection{Chain Replication and strong consistency}
|
||
|
||
The three basic rules of Chain Replication and its strong
|
||
consistency guarantee:
|
||
|
||
\begin{enumerate}
|
||
|
||
\item All replica servers are arranged in an ordered list $C$.
|
||
|
||
\item All mutations of a datum are performed upon each replica of $C$
|
||
strictly in the order which they appear in $C$. A mutation is considered
|
||
completely successful if the writes by all replicas are successful.
|
||
|
||
\item The head of the chain makes the determination of the order of
|
||
all mutations to all members of the chain. If the head determines
|
||
that some mutation $M_i$ happened before another mutation $M_j$,
|
||
then mutation $M_i$ happens before $M_j$ on all other members of
|
||
the chain.\footnote{While necesary for general Chain Replication,
|
||
Machi does not need this property. Instead, the property is
|
||
provided by Machi's sequencer and the write-once register of each
|
||
byte in each file.}
|
||
|
||
\item All read-only operations are performed by the ``tail'' replica,
|
||
i.e., the last replica in $C$.
|
||
|
||
\end{enumerate}
|
||
|
||
The basis of the proof lies in a simple logical trick, which is to
|
||
consider the history of all operations made to any server in the chain
|
||
as a literal list of unique symbols, one for each mutation.
|
||
|
||
Each replica of a datum will have a mutation history list. We will
|
||
call this history list $H$. For the $i^{th}$ replica in the chain list
|
||
$C$, we call $H_i$ the mutation history list for the $i^{th}$ replica.
|
||
|
||
Before the $i^{th}$ replica in the chain list begins service, its mutation
|
||
history $H_i$ is empty, $[]$. After this replica runs in a Chain
|
||
Replication system for a while, its mutation history list grows to
|
||
look something like
|
||
$[M_0, M_1, M_2, ..., M_{m-1}]$ where $m$ is the total number of
|
||
mutations of the datum that this server has processed successfully.
|
||
|
||
Let's assume for a moment that all mutation operations have stopped.
|
||
If the order of the chain was constant, and if all mutations are
|
||
applied to each replica in the chain's order, then all replicas of a
|
||
datum will have the exact same mutation history: $H_i = H_J$ for any
|
||
two replicas $i$ and $j$ in the chain
|
||
(i.e., $\forall i,j \in C, H_i = H_J$). That's a lovely property,
|
||
but it is much more interesting to assume that the service is
|
||
not stopped. Let's look next at a running system.
|
||
|
||
\begin{figure*}
|
||
\centering
|
||
\begin{tabular}{ccc}
|
||
{\bf {{On left side of $C$}}} & & {\bf On right side of $C$} \\
|
||
\hline
|
||
\multicolumn{3}{l}{Looking at replica order in chain $C$:} \\
|
||
$i$ & $<$ & $j$ \\
|
||
|
||
\multicolumn{3}{l}{For example:} \\
|
||
|
||
0 & $<$ & 2 \\
|
||
\hline
|
||
\multicolumn{3}{l}{It {\em must} be true: history lengths per replica:} \\
|
||
length($H_i$) & $\geq$ & length($H_j$) \\
|
||
\multicolumn{3}{l}{For example, a quiescent chain:} \\
|
||
length($H_i$) = 48 & $\geq$ & length($H_j$) = 48 \\
|
||
\multicolumn{3}{l}{For example, a chain being mutated:} \\
|
||
length($H_i$) = 55 & $\geq$ & length($H_j$) = 48 \\
|
||
\multicolumn{3}{l}{Example ordered mutation sets:} \\
|
||
$[M_0,M_1,\ldots,M_{46},M_{47},\ldots,M_{53},M_{54}]$ & $\supset$ & $[M_0,M_1,\ldots,M_{46},M_{47}]$ \\
|
||
\multicolumn{3}{c}{\bf Therefore the right side is always an ordered
|
||
subset} \\
|
||
\multicolumn{3}{c}{\bf of the left side. Furthermore, the ordered
|
||
sets on both} \\
|
||
\multicolumn{3}{c}{\bf sides have the exact same order of those elements they have in common.} \\
|
||
\multicolumn{3}{c}{The notation used by the Chain Replication paper is
|
||
shown below:} \\
|
||
$[M_0,M_1,\ldots,M_{46},M_{47},\ldots,M_{53},M_{54}]$ & $\succeq$ & $[M_0,M_1,\ldots,M_{46},M_{47}]$ \\
|
||
|
||
\end{tabular}
|
||
\caption{A demonstration of Chain Replication protocol history ``Update Propagation Invariant''.}
|
||
\label{tab:chain-order}
|
||
\end{figure*}
|
||
|
||
If the entire chain $C$ is processing any number of concurrent
|
||
mutations, then we can still understand $C$'s behavior.
|
||
Figure~\ref{tab:chain-order} shows us two replicas in chain $C$:
|
||
replica $R_i$ that's on the left/earlier side of the replica chain $C$
|
||
than some other replica $R_j$. We know that $i$'s position index in
|
||
the chain is smaller than $j$'s position index, so therefore $i < j$.
|
||
The restrictions of Chain Replication make it true that length($H_i$)
|
||
$\ge$ length($H_j$) because it's also that $H_i \supset H_j$, i.e,
|
||
$H_i$ on the left is always is a superset of $H_j$ on the right.
|
||
|
||
When considering $H_i$ and $H_j$ as strictly ordered lists, we have
|
||
$H_i \succeq H_j$, where the right side is always an exact prefix of the left
|
||
side's list. This prefixing propery is exactly what strong
|
||
consistency requires. If a value is read from the tail of the chain,
|
||
then no other chain member can have a prior/older value because their
|
||
respective mutations histories cannot be shorter than the tail
|
||
member's history.
|
||
|
||
\section{Repair of entire files}
|
||
\label{sec:repair-entire-files}
|
||
|
||
There are some situations where repair of entire files is necessary.
|
||
|
||
\begin{itemize}
|
||
\item To repair servers added to a chain in a projection change,
|
||
specifically adding a new server to the chain. This case covers both
|
||
adding a new, data-less server and re-adding a previous, data-full server
|
||
back to the chain.
|
||
\item To avoid data loss when changing the order of the chain's servers.
|
||
\end{itemize}
|
||
|
||
Both situations can set the stage for data loss in the future.
|
||
If a violation of the Update Propagation Invariant (see end of
|
||
Section~\ref{sec:cr-proof}) is permitted, then the strong consistency
|
||
guarantee of Chain Replication is violated. Because Machi uses
|
||
write-once registers, the number of possible strong consistency
|
||
violations is small: any client that witnesses a written $\rightarrow$
|
||
unwritten transition is a violation of strong consistency. But
|
||
avoiding even this one bad scenario is a bit tricky.
|
||
|
||
As explained in Section~\ref{sub:data-loss1}, data
|
||
unavailability/loss when all chain servers fail is unavoidable. We
|
||
wish to avoid data loss whenever a chain has at least one surviving
|
||
server. Another method to avoid data loss is to preserve the Update
|
||
Propagation Invariant at all times.
|
||
|
||
\subsection{Just ``rsync'' it!}
|
||
\label{ssec:just-rsync-it}
|
||
|
||
A simple repair method might be perhaps 90\% sufficient.
|
||
That method could loosely be described as ``just {\tt rsync}
|
||
all files to all servers in an infinite loop.''\footnote{The
|
||
file format suggested in
|
||
\cite{machi-design} does not permit {\tt rsync}
|
||
as-is to be sufficient. A variation of {\tt rsync} would need to be
|
||
aware of the data/metadata split within each file and only replicate
|
||
the data section \ldots and the metadata would still need to be
|
||
managed outside of {\tt rsync}.}
|
||
|
||
However, such an informal method
|
||
cannot tell you exactly when you are in danger of data loss and when
|
||
data loss has actually happened. If we maintain the Update
|
||
Propagation Invariant, then we know exactly when data loss is immanent
|
||
or has happened.
|
||
|
||
Furthermore, we hope to use Machi for multiple use cases, including
|
||
ones that require strong consistency.
|
||
For uses such as CORFU, strong consistency is a non-negotiable
|
||
requirement. Therefore, we will use the Update Propagation Invariant
|
||
as the foundation for Machi's data loss prevention techniques.
|
||
|
||
\subsection{Divergence from CORFU: repair}
|
||
\label{sub:repair-divergence}
|
||
|
||
The original repair design for CORFU is simple and effective,
|
||
mostly. See Figure~\ref{fig:corfu-style-repair} for a full
|
||
description of the algorithm
|
||
Figure~\ref{fig:corfu-repair-sc-violation} for an example of a strong
|
||
consistency violation that can follow. (NOTE: This is a variation of
|
||
the data loss scenario that is described in
|
||
Figure~\ref{fig:data-loss2}.)
|
||
|
||
\begin{figure}
|
||
\begin{enumerate}
|
||
\item Destroy all data on the repair destination FLU.
|
||
\item Add the repair destination FLU to the tail of the chain in a new
|
||
projection $P_{p+1}$.
|
||
\item Change projection from $P_p$ to $P_{p+1}$.
|
||
\item Let single item read repair fix all of the problems.
|
||
\end{enumerate}
|
||
\caption{Simplest CORFU-style repair algorithm.}
|
||
\label{fig:corfu-style-repair}
|
||
\end{figure}
|
||
|
||
\begin{figure}
|
||
\begin{enumerate}
|
||
\item Write value $V$ to offset $O$ in the log with chain $[F_a]$.
|
||
This write is considered successful.
|
||
\item Change projection to configure chain as $[F_a,F_b]$. Prior to
|
||
the change, all values on FLU $F_b$ are unwritten.
|
||
\item FLU server $F_a$ crashes. The new projection defines the chain
|
||
as $[F_b]$.
|
||
\item A client attempts to read offset $O$ and finds an unwritten
|
||
value. This is a strong consistency violation.
|
||
%% \item The same client decides to fill $O$ with the junk value
|
||
%% $V_{junk}$. Now value $V$ is lost.
|
||
\end{enumerate}
|
||
\caption{An example scenario where the CORFU simplest repair algorithm
|
||
can lead to a violation of strong consistency.}
|
||
\label{fig:corfu-repair-sc-violation}
|
||
\end{figure}
|
||
|
||
A variation of the repair
|
||
algorithm is presented in section~2.5 of a later CORFU paper \cite{corfu2}.
|
||
However, the re-use a failed
|
||
server is not discussed there, either: the example of a failed server
|
||
$F_6$ uses a new server, $F_8$ to replace $F_6$. Furthermore, the
|
||
repair process is described as:
|
||
|
||
\begin{quote}
|
||
``Once $F_6$ is completely rebuilt on $F_8$ (by copying entries from
|
||
$F_7$), the system moves to projection (C), where $F_8$ is now used
|
||
to service all reads in the range $[40K,80K)$.''
|
||
\end{quote}
|
||
|
||
The phrase ``by copying entries'' does not give enough
|
||
detail to avoid the same data race as described in
|
||
Figure~\ref{fig:corfu-repair-sc-violation}. We believe that if
|
||
``copying entries'' means copying only written pages, then CORFU
|
||
remains vulnerable. If ``copying entries'' also means ``fill any
|
||
unwritten pages prior to copying them'', then perhaps the
|
||
vulnerability is eliminated.\footnote{SLF's note: Probably? This is my
|
||
gut feeling right now. However, given that I've just convinced
|
||
myself 100\% that fill during any possibility of split brain is {\em
|
||
not safe} in Machi, I'm not 100\% certain anymore than this ``easy''
|
||
fix for CORFU is correct.}.
|
||
|
||
\subsection{Whole-file repair as FLUs are (re-)added to a chain}
|
||
\label{sub:repair-add-to-chain}
|
||
|
||
Machi's repair process must preserve the Update Propagation
|
||
Invariant. To avoid data races with data copying from
|
||
``U.P.~Invariant preserving'' servers (i.e. fully repaired with
|
||
respect to the Update Propagation Invariant)
|
||
to servers of unreliable/unknown state, a
|
||
projection like the one shown in
|
||
Figure~\ref{fig:repair-chain-of-chains} is used. In addition, the
|
||
operations rules for data writes and reads must be observed in a
|
||
projection of this type.
|
||
|
||
\begin{figure*}
|
||
\centering
|
||
$
|
||
[\overbrace{\underbrace{H_1}_\textbf{Head of Heads}, M_{11},
|
||
\underbrace{T_1}_\textbf{Tail \#1}}^\textbf{Chain \#1 (U.P.~Invariant preserving)}
|
||
\mid
|
||
\overbrace{H_2, M_{21},
|
||
\underbrace{T_2}_\textbf{Tail \#2}}^\textbf{Chain \#2 (repairing)}
|
||
\mid \ldots \mid
|
||
\overbrace{H_n, M_{n1},
|
||
\underbrace{T_n}_\textbf{Tail \#n \& Tail of Tails ($T_{tails}$)}}^\textbf{Chain \#n (repairing)}
|
||
]
|
||
$
|
||
\caption{Representation of a ``chain of chains'': a chain prefix of
|
||
Update Propagation Invariant preserving FLUs (``Chain \#1'')
|
||
with FLUs from $n-1$ other chains under repair.}
|
||
\label{fig:repair-chain-of-chains}
|
||
\end{figure*}
|
||
|
||
\begin{itemize}
|
||
|
||
\item The system maintains the distinction between ``U.P.~preserving''
|
||
and ``repairing'' FLUs at all times. This allows the system to
|
||
track exactly which servers are known to preserve the Update
|
||
Propagation Invariant and which servers may/may not.
|
||
|
||
\item All ``repairing'' FLUs must be added only at the end of the
|
||
chain-of-chains.
|
||
|
||
\item All write operations must flow successfully through the
|
||
chain-of-chains from beginning to end, i.e., from the ``head of
|
||
heads'' to the ``tail of tails''. This rule also includes any
|
||
repair operations.
|
||
|
||
\item In AP Mode, all read operations are attempted from the list of
|
||
$[T_1,\-T_2,\-\ldots,\-T_n]$, where these FLUs are the tails of each of the
|
||
chains involved in repair.
|
||
In CP mode, all read operations are attempted only from $T_1$.
|
||
The first reply of {\tt \{ok, <<...>>\}} is a correct answer;
|
||
the rest of the FLU list can be ignored and the result returned to the
|
||
client. If all FLUs in the list have an unwritten value, then the
|
||
client can return {\tt error\_unwritten}.
|
||
|
||
\end{itemize}
|
||
|
||
While the normal single-write and single-read operations are performed
|
||
by the cluster, a file synchronization process is initiated. The
|
||
sequence of steps differs depending on the AP or CP mode of the system.
|
||
|
||
\subsubsection{Cluster in CP mode}
|
||
|
||
In cases where the cluster is operating in CP Mode,
|
||
CORFU's repair method of ``just copy it all'' (from source FLU to repairing
|
||
FLU) is correct, {\em except} for the small problem pointed out in
|
||
Section~\ref{sub:repair-divergence}. The problem for Machi is one of
|
||
time \& space. Machi wishes to avoid transferring data that is
|
||
already correct on the repairing nodes. If a Machi node is storing
|
||
20TBytes of data, we really do not wish to use 20TBytes of bandwidth
|
||
to repair only 1 GByte of truly-out-of-sync data.
|
||
|
||
However, it is {\em vitally important} that all repairing FLU data be
|
||
clobbered/overwritten with exactly the same data as the Update
|
||
Propagation Invariant preserving chain. If this rule is not strictly
|
||
enforced, then fill operations can corrupt Machi file data. The
|
||
algorithm proposed is:
|
||
|
||
\begin{enumerate}
|
||
|
||
\item Change the projection to a ``chain of chains'' configuration
|
||
such as depicted in Figure~\ref{fig:repair-chain-of-chains}.
|
||
|
||
\item For all files on all FLUs in all chains, extract the lists of
|
||
written/unwritten byte ranges and their corresponding file data
|
||
checksums. (The checksum metadata is not strictly required for
|
||
recovery in AP Mode.)
|
||
Send these lists to the tail of tails
|
||
$T_{tails}$, which will collate all of the lists into a list of
|
||
tuples such as {\tt \{FName, $O_{start}, O_{end}$, CSum, FLU\_List\}}
|
||
where {\tt FLU\_List} is the list of all FLUs in the entire chain of
|
||
chains where the bytes at the location {\tt \{FName, $O_{start},
|
||
O_{end}$\}} are known to be written (as of the current repair period).
|
||
|
||
\item For chain \#1 members, i.e., the
|
||
leftmost chain relative to Figure~\ref{fig:repair-chain-of-chains},
|
||
repair files byte ranges for any chain \#1 members that are not members
|
||
of the {\tt FLU\_List} set. This will repair any partial
|
||
writes to chain \#1 that were unsuccessful (e.g., client crashed).
|
||
(Note however that this step only repairs FLUs in chain \#1.)
|
||
|
||
\item For all file byte ranges in all files on all FLUs in all
|
||
repairing chains where Tail \#1's value is unwritten, force all
|
||
repairing FLUs to also be unwritten.
|
||
|
||
\item For file byte ranges in all files on all FLUs in all repairing
|
||
chains where Tail \#1's value is written, send repair file byte data
|
||
\& metadata to any repairing FLU if the value repairing FLU's
|
||
value is unwritten or the checksum is not exactly equal to Tail \#1's
|
||
checksum.
|
||
|
||
\end{enumerate}
|
||
|
||
\begin{figure}
|
||
\centering
|
||
$
|
||
[\overbrace{\underbrace{H_1}_\textbf{Head}, M_{11}, T_1,
|
||
H_2, M_{21}, T_2,
|
||
\ldots
|
||
H_n, M_{n1},
|
||
\underbrace{T_n}_\textbf{Tail}}^\textbf{Chain (U.P.~Invariant preserving)}
|
||
]
|
||
$
|
||
\caption{Representation of Figure~\ref{fig:repair-chain-of-chains}
|
||
after all repairs have finished successfully and a new projection has
|
||
been calculated.}
|
||
\label{fig:repair-chain-of-chains-finished}
|
||
\end{figure}
|
||
|
||
When the repair is known to have copied all missing data successfully,
|
||
then the chain can change state via a new projection that includes the
|
||
repaired FLU(s) at the end of the U.P.~Invariant preserving chain \#1
|
||
in the same order in which they appeared in the chain-of-chains during
|
||
repair. See Figure~\ref{fig:repair-chain-of-chains-finished}.
|
||
|
||
The repair can be coordinated and/or performed by the $T_{tails}$ FLU
|
||
or any other FLU or cluster member that has spare capacity.
|
||
|
||
There is no serious race condition here between the enumeration steps
|
||
and the repair steps. Why? Because the change in projection at
|
||
step \#1 will force any new data writes to adapt to a new projection.
|
||
Consider the mutations that either happen before or after a projection
|
||
change:
|
||
|
||
|
||
\begin{itemize}
|
||
|
||
\item For all mutations $M_1$ prior to the projection change, the
|
||
enumeration steps \#3 \& \#4 and \#5 will always encounter mutation
|
||
$M_1$. Any repair must write through the entire chain-of-chains and
|
||
thus will preserve the Update Propagation Invariant when repair is
|
||
finished.
|
||
|
||
\item For all mutations $M_2$ starting during or after the projection
|
||
change has finished, a new mutation $M_2$ may or may not be included in the
|
||
enumeration steps \#3 \& \#4 and \#5.
|
||
However, in the new projection, $M_2$ must be
|
||
written to all chain of chains members, and such
|
||
in-order writes will also preserve the Update
|
||
Propagation Invariant and therefore is also be safe.
|
||
|
||
\end{itemize}
|
||
|
||
\subsubsection{Cluster in AP Mode}
|
||
|
||
In cases the cluster is operating in AP Mode:
|
||
|
||
\begin{enumerate}
|
||
\item Follow the first two steps of the ``CP Mode''
|
||
sequence (above).
|
||
\item Follow step \#3 of the ``strongly consistent mode'' sequence
|
||
(above), but in place of repairing only FLUs in Chain \#1, AP mode
|
||
will repair the byte range of any FLU that is not a member of the
|
||
{\tt FLU\_List} set.
|
||
\item End of procedure.
|
||
\end{enumerate}
|
||
|
||
The end result is a huge ``merge'' where any
|
||
{\tt \{FName, $O_{start}, O_{end}$\}} range of bytes that is written
|
||
on FLU $F_w$ but missing/unwritten from FLU $F_m$ is written down the full chain
|
||
of chains, skipping any FLUs where the data is known to be written.
|
||
Such writes will also preserve Update Propagation Invariant when
|
||
repair is finished.
|
||
|
||
\subsection{Whole-file repair when changing FLU ordering within a chain}
|
||
\label{sub:repair-chain-re-ordering}
|
||
|
||
Changing FLU order within a chain is an operations optimization only.
|
||
It may be that the administrator wishes the order of a chain to remain
|
||
as originally configured during steady-state operation, e.g.,
|
||
$[F_a,F_b,F_c]$. As FLUs are stopped \& restarted, the chain may
|
||
become re-ordered in a seemingly-arbitrary manner.
|
||
|
||
It is certainly possible to re-order the chain, in a kludgy manner.
|
||
For example, if the desired order is $[F_a,F_b,F_c]$ but the current
|
||
operating order is $[F_c,F_b,F_a]$, then remove $F_b$ from the chain,
|
||
then add $F_b$ to the end of the chain. Then repeat the same
|
||
procedure for $F_c$. The end result will be the desired order.
|
||
|
||
From an operations perspective, re-ordering of the chain
|
||
using this kludgy manner has a
|
||
negative effect on availability: the chain is temporarily reduced from
|
||
operating with $N$ replicas down to $N-1$. This reduced replication
|
||
factor will not remain for long, at most a few minutes at a time, but
|
||
even a small amount of time may be unacceptable in some environments.
|
||
|
||
Reordering is possible with the introduction of a ``temporary head''
|
||
of the chain. This temporary FLU does not need to be a full replica
|
||
of the entire chain --- it merely needs to store replicas of mutations
|
||
that are made during the chain reordering process. This method will
|
||
not be described here. However, {\em if reviewers believe that it should
|
||
be included}, please let the authors know.
|
||
|
||
\subsubsection{In both Machi operating modes:}
|
||
After initial implementation, it may be that the repair procedure is a
|
||
bit too slow. In order to accelerate repair decisions, it would be
|
||
helpful have a quicker method to calculate which files have exactly
|
||
the same contents. In traditional systems, this is done with a single
|
||
file checksum; see also the ``checksum scrub'' subsection in
|
||
\cite{machi-design}.
|
||
Machi's files can be written out-of-order from a file offset point of
|
||
view, which violates the order which the traditional method for
|
||
calculating a full-file hash. If we recall out-of-temporal-order
|
||
example in the ``Append-only files'' section of \cite{machi-design},
|
||
the traditional method cannot
|
||
continue calculating the file checksum at offset 2 until the byte at
|
||
file offset 1 is written.
|
||
|
||
It may be advantageous for each FLU to maintain for each file a
|
||
checksum of a canonical representation of the
|
||
{\tt \{$O_{start},O_{end},$ CSum\}} tuples that the FLU must already
|
||
maintain. Then for any two FLUs that claim to store a file $F$, if
|
||
both FLUs have the same hash of $F$'s written map + checksums, then
|
||
the copies of $F$ on both FLUs are the same.
|
||
|
||
\bibliographystyle{abbrvnat}
|
||
\begin{thebibliography}{}
|
||
\softraggedright
|
||
|
||
\bibitem{riak-core}
|
||
Klophaus, Rusty.
|
||
"Riak Core."
|
||
ACM SIGPLAN Commercial Users of Functional Programming (CUFP'10), 2010.
|
||
{\tt http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1900176} and
|
||
{\tt https://github.com/basho/riak\_core}
|
||
|
||
\bibitem{rfc-7282}
|
||
RFC 7282: On Consensus and Humming in the IETF.
|
||
Internet Engineering Task Force.
|
||
{\tt https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7282}
|
||
|
||
\bibitem{elastic-chain-replication}
|
||
Abu-Libdeh, Hussam et al.
|
||
Leveraging Sharding in the Design of Scalable Replication Protocols.
|
||
Proceedings of the 4th Annual Symposium on Cloud Computing (SOCC'13), 2013.
|
||
{\tt http://www.ymsir.com/papers/sharding-socc.pdf}
|
||
|
||
\bibitem{corfu1}
|
||
Balakrishnan, Mahesh et al.
|
||
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\end{document}
|