Managing replicated files in partitioned distributed database systems

In this paper, we describe a consistency control algorithm for managing replicated files in the face of network partitioning due to node or communication link failures. It adopts a conservative approach in that mutual consistency among copies of a file is maintained by permitting files to be accessed only in a single partition. Our algorithm has the property that it permits dynamic switching between the “dynamic voting” algorithm and the “linearly ordered copies” algorithm. This aspect is not only appealing but results in greater file availability than in all previously published conservative algorithms.