baitcenter / actix-raft

An implementation of the Raft consensus protocol using the actix framework.

actix-raft

An implementation of the Raft consensus protocol using the Actix actor framework.

This implementation differs from other Raft implementations in that:

• It is fully reactive and embraces the async ecosystem. It is driven by actual Raft related events taking place in the system as opposed to being driven by a tick operation. Batching of messages during replication is still used whenever possible for maximum performance.
• Storage and network integration is well defined via the two traits RaftStorage & RaftNetwork. This provides applications maximum flexibility in being able to choose their storage and networking mediums. This also allows for the storage interface to be synchronous or asynchronous based on the storage engine used, and allows for easily integrating with the actix ecosystem's networking components for efficient async networking.
• Pumping Raft requests & client requests into a running Raft node is also well defined via the Actix messages defined under the messages module in this crate.
• Fully supports dynamic cluster membership changes according to the Raft spec. See the ProposeConfigChange admin command in the docs.

This implementation strictly adheres to the Raft spec (pdf warning), and all data models use the same nomenclature found in the spec for better understandability.

admin commands

Actix-raft nodes may be controlled in various ways outside of the normal flow of the Raft protocol using the admin message types. This allows the parent application — within which the Raft node is running — to influence the Raft node's behavior based on application level needs. An admin command which probably every application using this Raft implementation will need to use is ProposeConfigChange. See the API documentation for more details.

See the admin commands docs for more details.

snapshots and log compaction

The snapshot and log compaction capabilities defined in the Raft spec are fully supported by this implementation. The storage layer is left to the application which uses this Raft implementation, but all snapshot behavior defined in the Raft spec is supported. Additionally, this implemention supports:

• Configurable snapshot policies. This allows nodes to perform log compacation at configurable intervals.
• Leader based InstallSnapshot RPC support. This allows the Raft leader to make determinations on when a new member (or a slow member) should receive a snapshot in order to come up-to-date faster.

The API documentation is comprehensive and includes implementation tips and references to the Raft spec for further guidance.