Raft

This package provides a simple, easy-to-understand, and reliable implementation of Raft using Go. Raft is a consensus protocol designed to manage replicated logs in a distributed system. Its purpose is to ensure fault-tolerant coordination and consistency among a group of nodes, making it suitable for building reliable systems. Potential use cases include distributed file systems, consistent key-value stores, and service discovery.

Features

The following features are currently supported:

• Automated Snapshots
• Concurrent Snapshot Transfer from Leader to Followers
• Dynamic Membership Changes
• Linearizable and Lease-Based Read-Only Operations
• Prevote and Leader Stickyness

Protocol Overview

Raft is based on a leader-follower model, where one node is elected as the leader and coordinates the replication process. Time is divided into terms, and the leader is elected for each term through a leader election process. The leader receives client requests, which are then replicated to other nodes called followers. The followers maintain a log of all state changes, and the leader's responsibility is to ensure that all followers have consistent logs by sending them entries to append. Safety is guaranteed by requiring a majority of nodes to agree on the state changes, ensuring that no conflicting states are committed.

Installation and Usage

First, make sure you have Go 1.20 or a higher version installed on your system. You can download and install Go from the official Go website.

Then, install the raft package by running

go get -u github.com/jmsadair/raft

Once you have the package installed, you may refer to the raft package reference page for basic usage. An example of how to use raft as well as a set of Jepsen tests can be found here.

Contributing

Other developers are encouraged to contribute to this project and pull requests are welcome. Please read these guidelines if you are interested in contributing.