The chapters — one page each
- 01Partial failureOn one machine things either work or crash. Add a network, and a third state appears: unknown.
- 02Talking between machinesBefore the deep theory: the mechanics of one service calling another, and why it can never feel local.
- 03Time and orderYou have accepted that machines fail independently. Now give up on them agreeing what time it is.
- 04Replication and consistencyCopies make a system available. They also make “what is the current value?” a real question.
- 05Broadcast, gossip and ordering guaranteesBetween “send one message” and “agree on everything” sits a family of primitives systems quietly rely on.
- 06ConsensusSometimes “roughly agreed” is not enough. Consensus is how machines commit to one answer together.
- 07Membership, failure detection and coordinationConsensus gave you a kernel of agreement; this stage is the machinery that puts it to work.
- 08Distributed transactionsOne database promised you atomicity; now the write spans three systems that each promise nothing about the others.
- 09Systems that shippedThe theory is settled. Now read what happened when three famous systems met production.
- 10Breaking it on purposeA distributed system you have not deliberately broken is a system whose failure modes you are saving for customers.