AbstractA basic task in distributed computation is the maintenance at each processor of the network, of a current and accurate copy of a common database. A primary example is the maintenance, for routing and other purposes, of a record of the current topology of the system.
Such a database must be updated in the wake of locally generated changes to its contents. Due to previous disconnections of parts of the network, a maintenance protocol may need to update processors holding widely varying versions of the database.
We provide a deterministic protocol for this problem, with only polylogarithmic overhead in both time and communication complexities. Previous deterministic solutions required polynomial overhead in at least one of these measures.
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Categories and Subject Descriptors: C.2.1 [Computer-Communication Networks]: Network Architecture and Design; C.2.2 [Computer-Communication Networks]: Network Protocols; C.2.4 [Computer-Communication Networks]: Distributed Systems; D.4.3 [Operating Systems]: File Systems Management; H.2.4 [Database Management]: Systems
General Terms: Algorithms, Databases
Additional Key Words and Phrases: Distributed computing, distributed databases, network management, network topology update, routing
Selected references
- Baruch Awerbuch, Israel Cidon, and Shay Kutten. Communication-optimal maintenance of replicated information. In 31st Annual Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science, volume II, pages 492-502, St. Louis, Missouri, 22-24 October 1990. IEEE.