Replicated State Machine
A Replicated State Machine (RSM) is a fundamental distributed systems concept where multiple servers (replicas) maintain identical copies of a state machine and process the same sequence of commands in the same order to achieve consistency. It ensures that all replicas transition through the same states, enabling fault tolerance and high availability in distributed applications. This approach is widely used in consensus algorithms and distributed databases to handle failures and maintain data integrity.
Developers should learn about Replicated State Machines when building or working with distributed systems that require strong consistency, fault tolerance, and high availability, such as distributed databases, consensus protocols, or blockchain networks. It is essential for scenarios where multiple nodes must agree on a shared state despite failures, such as in leader election, data replication, or implementing services like distributed locks. Understanding RSMs helps in designing reliable systems that can withstand node crashes or network partitions.