The one question
Can a consensus algorithm be as correct as Paxos, but easy enough that ordinary engineers can understand and implement it correctly?
Consensus means getting several servers to agree on the same thing, even when some of them fail.
The five Cs
- Category
- A new algorithm, plus a user study arguing that understandability is a design goal.
- Context
- A response to Paxos. Close relatives: Viewstamped Replication and ZooKeeper's Zab.
- Correctness
- Servers may crash but never lie. Safety never depends on timing; making progress does.
- Contributions
- Splits consensus into leader election, log replication and safety; cleaner cluster membership changes.
- Clarity
- Outstanding. Clarity is the whole point.