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Distributed Transactions via Consensus

Explore how consensus algorithms like Paxos address challenges in distributed transactions by maintaining atomicity and fault tolerance. Learn the differences between consensus and atomic commit problems and see how Paxos can improve protocols like two-phase commit for better failure resilience.

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The introduction of this chapter mentioned that the consensus problem is very similar to the distributed transactions problem.

However, after studying the Paxos algorithm, one might think there seems to be a fundamental conflict between distributed transactions and the way Paxos solves the consensus problem.

The core characteristic of distributed transactions

The core characteristic of distributed transactions is atomicity. Either the relevant update has to be performed in all the nodes, or it should not be performed in any of them.

Difference between transaction problem and consensus problem

However, the Paxos algorithm relies on just a majority quorum to decide on a value. According to HadzilacosV. Hadzilacos, “On the Relationship between the Atomic Commitment and Consensus Problems,” Fault-Tolerant Distributed Computing, November 1990, pages 201–208, 1990., “Indeed, the problem of distributed transactions, known as atomic commit, and the consensus problem might be closely related. Still, they are not equivalent”.

  • The consensus problem mandates that every ...