Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Subramanyam Pattipaka

Dharma Kiritkumar Shukla

Karthik Raman

Momin Mahmoud Al-Ghosien

Ji Huang

Shireesh Kumar Thota

Madhan Gajendran

Pankaj Sharma

Atul Katiyar

Ankur Savailal Shah

Bhalakumaaran Erode Ranganathan

Mikhail Mikhailovich Koltachev

Shreshth Singhal

Sujit Vattathil Kuruvilla

Ovidiu Constantin Platon

Digvijaysinh Govindbhai Makwana

A server set for a data set may designate a subset of 'master' servers that update the data set in order to reduce data version conflicts involving mutually exclusive updates of the data set. Multi-master configurations may fulfill the performance constraints, and the subset of masters may detect and resolve data version conflicts. However, if multiple masters perform conflict resolution for a particular data version conflict, the resolution may produce inefficiency and redundancy (if the masters reach the same outcome) or additional data version conflicts (if the masters reach different outcomes). Instead, among the masters, a merge master may be identified that applies conflict resolution techniques to data version conflicts and forwards the conflict resolution outcome to the other masters for application to the data set to resolve the data version conflict. The other masters may temporarily store updates in a tentative update set until data version conflicts are resolved.

Merging conflict resolution for multi-master distributed databases

Data services for workloads are often provided with a service level agreement specifying various performance guarantees (e.g., latency, availability, scalability, and consistency). Single-master architectures, in which updates to the data set are constrained to a single server, may limit the fulfillment of some performance guarantees. Presented herein are multi-master architectures, in which the server set is partitioned into at least two masters are permitted to update the data set and at least one non-master that is not permitted to update the data set. Non-masters that receive a request to update the data set forward the request to a master server for application to the data set. A master that receives the request applies it to the data set and propagates the update to other master and non-master servers. Conflicting updates may be resolved through a variety of conflict resolution techniques, optionally designating one master server as a conflict resolution server.

Multi-master architectures for distributed databases

Data services are often provided with various performance guarantees. Multi-master architectures, in which multiple master servers are permitted to update a portion of the data set, may facilitate some performance requirements, but may also lead to data version conflicts in which different masters have written different versions of one or more data items. Moreover, conflicts involving different data items may have to be resolved using different conflict resolution techniques. Therefore, various data items of the data set may be associated with a conflict resolution technique selected from a conflict resolution technique set, such as manual conflict resolution; a write order policy, such as last writer wins; a conflict resolution logic; and conflict resolution based on data types. A data version conflict may be resolved by identifying and invoking the selected conflict resolution technique that is associated with the data item, and applying the conflict resolution outcome to the data item.

Conflict resolution for multi-master distributed databases

Growing community of inventors

Bellevue, WA, United States of America

Subramanyam Pattipaka