Raft

Synopsis

Stephen Baxter's highly acclaimed first novel and the beginning of his stunning Xeelee Sequence finally enters the SF Masterwork series!

A spaceship from Earth accidentally crossed through a hole in space-time to a universe where the force of gravity is one billion times as strong as the gravity we know. Somehow the crew survived, aided by the fact that they emerged into a cloud of gas surrounding a black hole, which provided a breathable atmosphere.

Five hundred years later, their descendants still struggle for existence, divided into two main groups. The Miners live on the Belt, a ramshackle ring of dwellings orbiting the core of a dead star, which they excavate for raw materials. These can be traded for food from the Raft, a structure built from the wreckage of the ship, on which a small group of scientists preserve the ancient knowledge which makes survival possible.

Rees is a Miner whose curiosity about his world makes him stow away on a flying tree - just one of the many strange local lifeforms - carrying trade between the Belt and the Raft. And what he finds will change his world...

Summary

Chapter 1: Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of Raft, a consensus algorithm designed for building highly available distributed systems. It introduces the key concepts of consensus, describes the benefits and limitations of Raft, and presents use cases for the algorithm.

Real-life Example: A distributed banking system that uses Raft to ensure the integrity of customer balances across multiple servers.

Chapter 2: Basic Operation

This chapter explains the basic operation of Raft. It describes the role of the leader, followers, and candidates, and outlines the steps involved in leader election, log replication, and consistency enforcement.

Real-life Example: A cluster of web servers that use Raft to synchronize their in-memory cache, ensuring that all servers serve the same content to users.

Chapter 3: Raft States and Transitions

This chapter discusses the different states that a Raft node can be in (leader, follower, candidate) and the transitions between these states. It explains the triggering events, conditions, and actions associated with each transition.

Real-life Example: A set of database servers that use Raft to elect a leader to coordinate write operations, ensuring data consistency and high availability.

Chapter 4: Handling Network Partitions

This chapter addresses the challenges posed by network partitions in distributed systems. It discusses how Raft detects and handles partitions, including the split-brain problem, and describes the mechanisms used to maintain consistency under these conditions.

Real-life Example: A cloud-based microservices architecture that uses Raft to handle network failures and ensure that critical services remain operational even during outages.

Chapter 5: Implementation Considerations

This chapter provides practical guidance on implementing Raft in distributed systems. It covers topics such as performance optimization, configuration management, monitoring, and debugging techniques.

Real-life Example: A team of developers implementing Raft for a real-time messaging platform, sharing their experiences and best practices for ensuring high reliability and scalability.

Chapter 6: Advanced Topics

This chapter explores advanced topics in Raft, including quorum-based decision making, lease-based leadership, and cluster membership management. It discusses the trade-offs and considerations associated with these techniques.

Real-life Example: A distributed storage system that uses lease-based leadership to improve availability by reducing the frequency of leader elections.

Chapter 7: Real-World Applications

This chapter showcases real-world applications of Raft in various industries and domains. It presents case studies and testimonials from organizations that have successfully adopted Raft for their distributed systems.

Real-life Example: A major social media platform that uses Raft to manage the billions of interactions and updates that occur on its platform daily.