Chandra–Toueg consensus algorithm: Difference between revisions

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{{inline|date=May 2024}}

The '''Chandra–Toueg consensus algorithm''', published by Tushar Deepak Chandra and Sam Toueg in 1996, is an algorithm for solving [[Consensus (computer science)|consensus]] in a network of unreliable processes equipped with an ''eventually strong'' [[failure detector]]. The failure detector is an abstract version of [[Timeout (computing)|timeouts]]; it signals to each process when other processes may have crashed. An eventually strong failure detector is one that never identifies ''some'' specific non-faulty process as having failed after some initial period of confusion, and, at the same time, eventually identifies ''all'' faulty processes as failed (where a faulty process is a process which eventually fails or crashes and a non-faulty process never fails). The Chandra–Toueg consensus algorithm assumes that the number of faulty processes, denoted by {{var|f}}, is less than n/2 (i.e. the minority), i.e. it assumes {{var|f}} < {{var|n}}/2, where n is the total number of processes.

== The algorithm ==

The algorithm proceeds in rounds and uses a rotating coordinator: in each round {{var|r}}, the process whose identity is given by {{var|r}} mod {{var|n}} is chosen as the coordinator. Each process keeps track of its current preferred decision value (initially equal to the input of the process) and the last round where it changed its decision value (the value's [[timestamp]]). The actions carried out in each round are:

# All processes send (r, preference, timestamp) to the coordinator.

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# The coordinator waits to receive ack(r) or nack(r) from a majority of processes.

## If it receives ack(r) from a majority, it sends decide(preference) to all processes.

# Any process that receives decide(preference) for the first time sendsrelays decide(preference) to all processes, then decides preference and terminates.

Note that this algorithm is used to decide only on one value.

== Correctness ==

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=== Assumptions ===

Before arguing that the Chandra–Toueg consensus algorithm satisfies the 3three properties above, recall that this algorithm requires {{var|n}} = 2*{{var|f}} + 1 processes, where at most f of which are faulty.

Furthermore, note that this algorithm assumes the existence of ''eventually strong failure detector'' (which are accessible and can be used to detect the crash of a node). An eventually strong failure detector is one that ''never'' identifies ''some'' specific non-faulty (or correct) process as having failed, after some initial period of confusion, and, at the same time, eventually identifies ''all'' faulty processes as failed.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandra-Toueg consensus algorithm}}

[[Category:Distributed algorithms]]

[[Category:Fault tolerance]]

[[Category:Fault-tolerant computer systems]]