Fernando Pedone

Bio: Fernando Pedone is an academic researcher from University of Lugano. The author has contributed to research in topics: Replication (computing) & State machine replication. The author has an hindex of 34, co-authored 176 publications receiving 4491 citations. Previous affiliations of Fernando Pedone include École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne & École Normale Supérieure.

Understanding replication in databases and distributed systems

Abstract: Replication is an area of interest to both distributed systems and databases. The solutions developed from these two perspectives are conceptually similar but differ in many aspects: model, assumptions, mechanisms, guarantees provided, and implementation. In this paper, we provide an abstract and "neutral" framework to compare replication techniques from both communities. The framework has been designed to emphasize the role played by different mechanisms and to facilitate comparisons. The paper describes the replication techniques used in both communities, compares them, and points out ways in which they can be integrated to arrive to better, more robust replication protocols.

Database replication techniques: a three parameter classification

Abstract: Data replication is an increasingly important topic as databases are more and more deployed over clusters of workstations. One of the challenges in database replication is to introduce replication without severely affecting performance. Because of this difficulty, current database products use lazy replication, which is very efficient but can compromise consistency. As an alternative, eager replication guarantees consistency but most existing protocols have a prohibitive cost. In order to clarify the current state of the art and open up new avenues for research, this paper analyses existing eager techniques using three key parameters (server architecture, server interaction and transaction termination). In our analysis, we distinguish eight classes of eager replication protocols and, for each category, discuss its requirements, capabilities and cost. The contribution lies in showing when eager replication is feasible and in spelling out the different aspects a database replication protocol must account for.

The Database State Machine Approach

Abstract: Database replication protocols have historically been built on top of distributed database systems, and have consequently been designed and implemented using distributed transactional mechanisms, such as atomic commitment. We present the Database State Machine approach, a new way to deal with database replication in a cluster of servers. This approach relies on a powerful atomic broadcast primitive to propagate transactions between database servers, and alleviates the need for atomic commitment. Transaction commit is based on a certification test, and abort rate is reduced by the reordering certification test. The approach is evaluated using a detailed simulation model that shows the scalability of the system and the benefits of the reordering certification test.

Database replication using generalized snapshot isolation

Abstract: Generalized snapshot isolation extends snapshot isolation as used in Oracle and other databases in a manner suitable for replicated databases. While (conventional) snapshot isolation requires that transactions observe the "latest" snapshot of the database, generalized snapshot isolation allows the use of "older" snapshots, facilitating a replicated implementation. We show that many of the desirable properties of snapshot isolation remain. In particular, read-only transactions never block or abort and they do not cause update transactions to block or abort. Moreover, under certain assumptions on the transaction workload the execution is serializable. An implementation of generalized snapshot isolation can choose which past snapshot it uses. An interesting choice for a replicated database is prefix-consistent snapshot isolation, in which the snapshot contains at least all the writes of locally committed transactions. We present two implementations of prefix-consistent snapshot isolation. We conclude with an analytical performance model of one implementation, demonstrating the benefits, in particular reduced latency for read-only transactions, and showing that the potential downsides, in particular change in abort rate of update transactions, are limited.

Merlin: A Language for Provisioning Network Resources

Abstract: This paper presents Merlin, a new framework for managing resources in software-defined networks. With Merlin, administrators express high-level policies using programs in a declarative language. The language includes logical predicates to identify sets of packets, regular expressions to encode forwarding paths, and arithmetic formulas to specify bandwidth constraints. The Merlin compiler uses a combination of advanced techniques to translate these policies into code that can be executed on network elements including a constraint solver that allocates bandwidth using parameterizable heuristics. To facilitate dynamic adaptation, Merlin provides mechanisms for delegating control of sub-policies and for verifying that modifications made to sub-policies do not violate global constraints. Experiments demonstrate the expressiveness and scalability of Merlin on real-world topologies and applications. Overall, Merlin simplifies network administration by providing high-level abstractions for specifying network policies and scalable infrastructure for enforcing them.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

Hyperledger fabric: a distributed operating system for permissioned blockchains

Abstract: Fabric is a modular and extensible open-source system for deploying and operating permissioned blockchains and one of the Hyperledger projects hosted by the Linux Foundation (www.hyperledger.org). Fabric is the first truly extensible blockchain system for running distributed applications. It supports modular consensus protocols, which allows the system to be tailored to particular use cases and trust models. Fabric is also the first blockchain system that runs distributed applications written in standard, general-purpose programming languages, without systemic dependency on a native cryptocurrency. This stands in sharp contrast to existing block-chain platforms that require "smart-contracts" to be written in domain-specific languages or rely on a cryptocurrency. Fabric realizes the permissioned model using a portable notion of membership, which may be integrated with industry-standard identity management. To support such flexibility, Fabric introduces an entirely novel blockchain design and revamps the way blockchains cope with non-determinism, resource exhaustion, and performance attacks. This paper describes Fabric, its architecture, the rationale behind various design decisions, its most prominent implementation aspects, as well as its distributed application programming model. We further evaluate Fabric by implementing and benchmarking a Bitcoin-inspired digital currency. We show that Fabric achieves end-to-end throughput of more than 3500 transactions per second in certain popular deployment configurations, with sub-second latency, scaling well to over 100 peers.

In search of an understandable consensus algorithm

Abstract: Raft is a consensus algorithm for managing a replicated log. It produces a result equivalent to (multi-)Paxos, and it is as efficient as Paxos, but its structure is different from Paxos; this makes Raft more understandable than Paxos and also provides a better foundation for building practical systems. In order to enhance understandability, Raft separates the key elements of consensus, such as leader election, log replication, and safety, and it enforces a stronger degree of coherency to reduce the number of states that must be considered. Results from a user study demonstrate that Raft is easier for students to learn than Paxos. Raft also includes a new mechanism for changing the cluster membership, which uses overlapping majorities to guarantee safety.

Method and system for managing distributed content and related metadata

Abstract: The invention provides a method and system for creating an innovative file system that separates its directory presentation from its data store. The method and system include processing, division, distribution, managing, synchronizing, and reassembling of file system objects that does not delay the presentation of the content to the user, but also uses a reduced amount of storage space. The invention includes the ability to manage and control the integrity of the files distributed across the network, and the ability to serve and reconstruct files in real time using a Virtual File Control System.

Comparison of broadcasting techniques for mobile ad hoc networks

Abstract: Network wide broadcasting in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks provides important control and route establishment functionality for a number of unicast and multicast protocols. Considering its wide use as a building block for other network layer protocols, the MANET community needs to standardize a single methodology that efficiently delivers a packet from one node to all other network nodes. Despite a considerable number of proposed broadcasting schemes, no comprehensive comparative analysis has been previously done. This paper provides such analysis by classifying existing broadcasting schemes into categories and simulating a subset of each, thus supplying a condensed but comprehensive side by side comparison.The simulations are designed to pinpoint, in each, specific failures to network conditions that are relevant to MANETs, e.g., bandwidth congestion and dynamic topologies. In addition, protocol extensions using adaptive responses to network conditions are proposed, implemented and analyzed for one broadcasting scheme that performs well in the comparative study.