Consul

Replicating important services on multiple processors in a distributed architecture is a common technique for constructing dependable computing systems. Consul is a communication substrate that facilitates the development of such systems by providing a collection of fundamental abstractions for constructing fault-tolerant programs based on replicated processing. These abstractions include a multicast service, a membership service, and a recovery service. Consul is unique in two respects. First, its services are implemented using a collection of algorithms that exploit the partial (or causal) ordering of messages exchanged in the system. Such algorithms are generally more efficient than those that depend on a total ordering of events. Second, its underlying architecture is configurable, thereby allowing a system to be structured according to the needs of the application.

Consul was a part of my PhD dissertation. I did this work with Prof. Rick Schlichting and Prof. Larry Peterson .

Publications

R. Schlichting, S. Mishra, and L. Peterson, `Constructing Dependable Distributed Systems Using Consul'. G. M. Koob and C. G. Lau, editors, Foundations of Dependable Computing, System Implementation, pages 243--263, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston 1994.
S. Mishra, L. Peterson, and R. Schlichting, `Consul: A Communication Substrate for Fault-tolerant Distributed Programs'. Distributed Systems Engineering Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2 (December 1993), pages 87--103.
S. Mishra, L. Peterson, and R. Schlichting, `Experience with Modularity in Consul'. Software---Practice and Experience, Vol. 23, No. 10 (October 1993), pages 1059--1075.
S. Mishra, L. Peterson, and R. Schlichting, `Modularity in the Design and Implementation of Consul'. Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Autonomous Decentralized Systems, Kawasaki, Japan (Mar 1993), pages 376--382.
S. Mishra, L. Peterson, and R. Schlichting, `Protocol Modularity in Systems for Managing Replicated Data'. Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Management of Replicated Data, Monterey, CA (November 1992), pages 78--81.
S. Mishra, L. Peterson, and R. Schlichting, `A Membership Protocol Based on Partial Order'. J. F. Meyer and R. D. Schlichting, editors, Dependable Computing for Critical Applications 2, pages 309--331, Springer-Verlag, Vienna 1992.
S. Mishra, L. Peterson, and R. Schlichting, `A Membership Protocol Based on Partial Order'. Proceedings of the Second IFIP Working Conference on Dependable Computing for Critical Applications, Tucson, AZ (February 1991), pages 137--145.
S. Mishra, L. Peterson, and R. Schlichting, `Communication Substrate for Maintaining Replicated Data'. Proceedings of the First Workshop on Management of Replicated Data, Houston, TX (November 1990), pages 125--128.
R. Schlichting, S. Mishra, and L. Peterson, `Fault-Tolerance Aspects of the Psync IPC Mechanism'. IEICE Technical Report, Vol. 89, No 12 (April 1990), pages 47--54, (Invited Paper).
S. Mishra, L. Peterson, and R. Schlichting, `Implementing Fault-Tolerant Replicated Objects Using Psync'. Proceedings of the 8th Symposium on Reliable Distributed Systems, Seattle, WA (October 1989), pages 42--52.