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When a neighbor isn't home to receive a package, a thoughtful delivery driver might leave it with another neighbor along with a note: "Please give this to apartment 4B when they return." The package is safe, the sender gets confirmation of delivery, and the intended recipient will eventually receive their item.
Hinted handoff is this exact pattern applied to distributed databases. When a designated replica node is unavailable, another node temporarily accepts the data and stores a "hint"—metadata indicating where the data should eventually go. When the failed node recovers, the hint triggers automatic delivery of the data to its rightful home.
This mechanism is what makes sloppy quorums practical. Without hinted handoff, data written to substitute nodes during failures would either be lost or require expensive full-cluster reconciliation. With hinted handoff, the system gracefully heals itself, converging toward the intended state without manual intervention.
By the end of this page, you will understand the complete lifecycle of hinted handoff from write to delivery, master the data structures and algorithms that power hint storage and replay, comprehend failure scenarios and how to configure handoff for reliability, learn monitoring and operational strategies for production systems, and recognize when hinted handoff alone is insufficient and additional mechanisms are needed.
Hinted handoff is a multi-stage process that spans from the initial write to the final delivery. Understanding each stage helps you reason about system behavior during failures and recovery.
Stage 1: Hint Generation
When a coordinator node attempts to write to a replica that is unreachable (down, partitioned, or overloaded), it selects a substitute node from the preference list. The write to this substitute includes additional metadata—the "hint"—specifying:
Stage 2: Hint Storage
The substitute node stores both the actual data and the hint metadata. Different systems store hints differently:
Stage 3: Hint Delivery
A background process periodically checks if hinted recipients have recovered. When connectivity is restored, the substitute node "replays" the hints—sending the data to the recovered node. Successful delivery triggers hint deletion.
Stage 4: Cleanup
After successful delivery, hints are purged from the substitute node. If hints exceed their TTL before delivery, they're discarded (potentially losing data—a critical operational concern).
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interface Hint { id: string; targetNodeId: string; // Where data should eventually go key: string; // The data key value: any; // The actual data writeTimestamp: number; // Original write time hintCreatedAt: number; // When hint was created ttlMs: number; // How long to keep the hint attempts: number; // Delivery attempts so far lastAttempt?: number; // Timestamp of last delivery attempt} interface HintStore { addHint(hint: Hint): Promise<void>; getHints(targetNodeId: string): Promise<Hint[]>; getAllHints(): Promise<Hint[]>; deleteHint(hintId: string): Promise<void>; deleteExpiredHints(): Promise<number>;} class HintedHandoffManager { private hintStore: HintStore; private nodeMonitor: NodeMonitor; private maxAttempts: number = 10; private retryDelayMs: number = 5000; private deliveryBatchSize: number = 100; constructor(hintStore: HintStore, nodeMonitor: NodeMonitor) { this.hintStore = hintStore; this.nodeMonitor = nodeMonitor; } // Stage 1 & 2: Generate and store hint async createHint( targetNodeId: string, key: string, value: any, writeTimestamp: number, ttlMs: number = 3 * 60 * 60 * 1000 // 3 hours default ): Promise<Hint> { const hint: Hint = { id: `hint-${Date.now()}-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2)}`, targetNodeId, key, value, writeTimestamp, hintCreatedAt: Date.now(), ttlMs, attempts: 0, }; await this.hintStore.addHint(hint); console.log(`Created hint ${hint.id} for ${targetNodeId}, key=${key}`); return hint; } // Stage 3: Background delivery process async runDeliveryLoop(): Promise<void> { while (true) { try { await this.deliverPendingHints(); await this.hintStore.deleteExpiredHints(); } catch (error) { console.error('Hint delivery error:', error); } await this.sleep(this.retryDelayMs); } } private async deliverPendingHints(): Promise<void> { const allHints = await this.hintStore.getAllHints(); // Group hints by target node const hintsByTarget = new Map<string, Hint[]>(); for (const hint of allHints) { if (!hintsByTarget.has(hint.targetNodeId)) { hintsByTarget.set(hint.targetNodeId, []); } hintsByTarget.get(hint.targetNodeId)!.push(hint); } // Attempt delivery to each recovered node for (const [targetNodeId, hints] of hintsByTarget) { const isAvailable = await this.nodeMonitor.isNodeAvailable(targetNodeId); if (!isAvailable) { console.log(`Target ${targetNodeId} still unavailable, skipping ${hints.length} hints`); continue; } // Deliver in batches for (let i = 0; i < hints.length; i += this.deliveryBatchSize) { const batch = hints.slice(i, i + this.deliveryBatchSize); await this.deliverBatch(targetNodeId, batch); } } } private async deliverBatch(targetNodeId: string, hints: Hint[]): Promise<void> { console.log(`Delivering ${hints.length} hints to ${targetNodeId}`); for (const hint of hints) { // Check TTL if (Date.now() - hint.hintCreatedAt > hint.ttlMs) { console.warn(`Hint ${hint.id} expired, discarding`); await this.hintStore.deleteHint(hint.id); continue; } // Check max attempts if (hint.attempts >= this.maxAttempts) { console.error(`Hint ${hint.id} exceeded max attempts, discarding`); await this.hintStore.deleteHint(hint.id); continue; } try { // Attempt delivery await this.sendToNode(targetNodeId, hint.key, hint.value, hint.writeTimestamp); // Success! Stage 4: Cleanup await this.hintStore.deleteHint(hint.id); console.log(`Successfully delivered hint ${hint.id}`); } catch (error) { // Delivery failed, increment attempts hint.attempts++; hint.lastAttempt = Date.now(); console.warn(`Failed to deliver hint ${hint.id}, attempt ${hint.attempts}`); // If node became unavailable during delivery, stop this batch if (!await this.nodeMonitor.isNodeAvailable(targetNodeId)) { console.log(`Target ${targetNodeId} became unavailable, stopping batch`); break; } } } } private async sendToNode(nodeId: string, key: string, value: any, ts: number): Promise<void> { // Actual network call to write data to target node // Implementation depends on the specific system } private sleep(ms: number): Promise<void> { return new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms)); }}Hint TTL is a critical configuration. Too short, and data is lost during extended outages. Too long, and disk space fills with undeliverable hints. Production systems typically use 1-24 hours, calibrated against expected recovery times. If a node is down longer than the TTL, data may be lost unless additional mechanisms (like anti-entropy repair) are in place.
How a system stores hints significantly impacts performance, durability, and operational characteristics. Different systems have evolved different strategies based on their specific requirements.
Cassandra's Evolution:
Cassandra has iterated through several hint storage schemes:
Early versions: Hints stored as regular data in a system table
Later versions (3.0+): Dedicated hints directory with custom format
Modern versions: Write-ahead log integration
| Strategy | Write Overhead | Read Perf | Durability | Disk Usage | Complexity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In-memory only | Very low | Fast | None (lost on restart) | Low | Simple |
| System table | Medium | Query-based | Full (replicated) | Medium | Medium |
| Dedicated files | Low | Sequential scan | Local disk | Variable | Medium |
| WAL integration | Very low | Log replay | Matches WAL settings | Low | High |
| Separate database | High | Query-based | Per external DB | High | High |
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import fs from 'fs/promises';import path from 'path'; interface SerializedHint { id: string; targetNodeId: string; key: string; value: string; // JSON-serialized writeTimestamp: number; hintCreatedAt: number; ttlMs: number; attempts: number; lastAttempt?: number;} class FileBasedHintStore implements HintStore { private hintsDirectory: string; private memoryIndex: Map<string, SerializedHint> = new Map(); private dirty: boolean = false; constructor(hintsDir: string) { this.hintsDirectory = hintsDir; } async initialize(): Promise<void> { await fs.mkdir(this.hintsDirectory, { recursive: true }); await this.loadIndex(); // Periodic flush to disk setInterval(() => this.flushIfDirty(), 1000); } private async loadIndex(): Promise<void> { try { const indexPath = path.join(this.hintsDirectory, 'index.json'); const data = await fs.readFile(indexPath, 'utf-8'); const hints: SerializedHint[] = JSON.parse(data); for (const hint of hints) { this.memoryIndex.set(hint.id, hint); } console.log(`Loaded ${this.memoryIndex.size} hints from disk`); } catch (error: any) { if (error.code !== 'ENOENT') throw error; console.log('No existing hint index, starting fresh'); } } private async flushIfDirty(): Promise<void> { if (!this.dirty) return; const indexPath = path.join(this.hintsDirectory, 'index.json'); const hints = Array.from(this.memoryIndex.values()); // Atomic write: write to temp file then rename const tempPath = indexPath + '.tmp'; await fs.writeFile(tempPath, JSON.stringify(hints, null, 2)); await fs.rename(tempPath, indexPath); this.dirty = false; console.log(`Flushed ${hints.length} hints to disk`); } async addHint(hint: Hint): Promise<void> { const serialized: SerializedHint = { ...hint, value: JSON.stringify(hint.value), }; this.memoryIndex.set(hint.id, serialized); this.dirty = true; // For large values, write to separate files if (serialized.value.length > 10000) { const valuePath = path.join(this.hintsDirectory, `${hint.id}.value`); await fs.writeFile(valuePath, serialized.value); serialized.value = `__file__:${hint.id}.value`; } } async getHints(targetNodeId: string): Promise<Hint[]> { const hints: Hint[] = []; for (const serialized of this.memoryIndex.values()) { if (serialized.targetNodeId === targetNodeId) { hints.push(await this.deserialize(serialized)); } } return hints; } async getAllHints(): Promise<Hint[]> { const hints: Hint[] = []; for (const serialized of this.memoryIndex.values()) { hints.push(await this.deserialize(serialized)); } return hints; } private async deserialize(serialized: SerializedHint): Promise<Hint> { let value = serialized.value; // Load from file if stored externally if (value.startsWith('__file__:')) { const fileName = value.slice('__file__:'.length); const valuePath = path.join(this.hintsDirectory, fileName); value = await fs.readFile(valuePath, 'utf-8'); } return { ...serialized, value: JSON.parse(value), }; } async deleteHint(hintId: string): Promise<void> { const hint = this.memoryIndex.get(hintId); if (!hint) return; // Delete external value file if exists if (hint.value.startsWith('__file__:')) { const fileName = hint.value.slice('__file__:'.length); const valuePath = path.join(this.hintsDirectory, fileName); await fs.unlink(valuePath).catch(() => {}); } this.memoryIndex.delete(hintId); this.dirty = true; } async deleteExpiredHints(): Promise<number> { const now = Date.now(); let deleted = 0; for (const [id, hint] of this.memoryIndex) { if (now - hint.hintCreatedAt > hint.ttlMs) { await this.deleteHint(id); deleted++; } } if (deleted > 0) { console.log(`Deleted ${deleted} expired hints`); } return deleted; } // Metrics async getStats(): Promise<{ totalHints: number; hintsByTarget: Map<string, number>; oldestHintAge: number; totalSize: number; }> { const hintsByTarget = new Map<string, number>(); let oldestHintAge = 0; let totalSize = 0; for (const hint of this.memoryIndex.values()) { const count = hintsByTarget.get(hint.targetNodeId) || 0; hintsByTarget.set(hint.targetNodeId, count + 1); const age = Date.now() - hint.hintCreatedAt; if (age > oldestHintAge) oldestHintAge = age; totalSize += hint.value.length; } return { totalHints: this.memoryIndex.size, hintsByTarget, oldestHintAge, totalSize, }; }}Store hints on fast, durable storage (SSD if possible). Use separate disks from data if hint volume is high. Compress hints to reduce storage—they're often highly compressible. Set alerts on hint disk usage to prevent disk exhaustion during prolonged outages.
How hints are delivered to recovered nodes affects convergence time, system load, and reliability. Several delivery strategies exist, each with different tradeoffs.
Push vs Pull:
Push Model (most common): The node holding hints actively sends them to recovered nodes.
Pull Model: Recovered nodes request hints from other nodes.
Hybrid: Push small hints, pull large batches.
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interface DeliveryConfig { maxBytesPerSecond: number; // Bandwidth limit maxConcurrentDeliveries: number; // Parallel delivery limit batchSize: number; // Hints per batch retryBackoffMs: number[]; // Exponential backoff delays} class ThrottledHintDelivery { private config: DeliveryConfig; private activeDeliveries: Set<string> = new Set(); private bytesDeliveredThisSecond: number = 0; private lastSecondReset: number = Date.now(); constructor(config: DeliveryConfig) { this.config = config; // Reset bandwidth counter each second setInterval(() => { this.bytesDeliveredThisSecond = 0; this.lastSecondReset = Date.now(); }, 1000); } async deliverToNode( targetNodeId: string, hints: Hint[] ): Promise<DeliveryResult> { // Check concurrent delivery limit if (this.activeDeliveries.size >= this.config.maxConcurrentDeliveries) { return { delivered: 0, skipped: hints.length, reason: 'max_concurrent' }; } this.activeDeliveries.add(targetNodeId); try { let delivered = 0; let failed = 0; // Process in batches for (let i = 0; i < hints.length; i += this.config.batchSize) { const batch = hints.slice(i, i + this.config.batchSize); const batchResult = await this.deliverBatchWithThrottle(targetNodeId, batch); delivered += batchResult.delivered; failed += batchResult.failed; // If batch failed completely, stop trying if (batchResult.failed === batch.length) { return { delivered, skipped: hints.length - i - batch.length, failed, reason: 'batch_failed', }; } } return { delivered, failed }; } finally { this.activeDeliveries.delete(targetNodeId); } } private async deliverBatchWithThrottle( targetNodeId: string, hints: Hint[] ): Promise<{ delivered: number; failed: number }> { let delivered = 0; let failed = 0; for (const hint of hints) { // Calculate hint size for bandwidth throttling const hintSize = JSON.stringify(hint.value).length; // Wait if we'd exceed bandwidth limit while (this.bytesDeliveredThisSecond + hintSize > this.config.maxBytesPerSecond) { const msUntilReset = 1000 - (Date.now() - this.lastSecondReset); if (msUntilReset > 0) { await this.sleep(msUntilReset); } // Counter will be reset by the interval } // Attempt delivery with retry const success = await this.deliverWithRetry(targetNodeId, hint); if (success) { delivered++; this.bytesDeliveredThisSecond += hintSize; } else { failed++; } } return { delivered, failed }; } private async deliverWithRetry(targetNodeId: string, hint: Hint): Promise<boolean> { const backoffs = this.config.retryBackoffMs; for (let attempt = 0; attempt <= backoffs.length; attempt++) { try { await this.sendHint(targetNodeId, hint); return true; } catch (error) { if (attempt < backoffs.length) { await this.sleep(backoffs[attempt]); } } } return false; } private async sendHint(targetNodeId: string, hint: Hint): Promise<void> { // Actual RPC to target node // Implementation depends on transport (gRPC, HTTP, custom protocol) console.log(`Sending hint ${hint.id} to ${targetNodeId}`); } private sleep(ms: number): Promise<void> { return new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms)); }} interface DeliveryResult { delivered: number; skipped?: number; failed?: number; reason?: string;} // Configuration for different scenariosconst conservativeConfig: DeliveryConfig = { maxBytesPerSecond: 1024 * 1024, // 1 MB/s maxConcurrentDeliveries: 2, batchSize: 50, retryBackoffMs: [100, 500, 1000, 5000],}; const aggressiveConfig: DeliveryConfig = { maxBytesPerSecond: 10 * 1024 * 1024, // 10 MB/s maxConcurrentDeliveries: 10, batchSize: 500, retryBackoffMs: [50, 100, 500],};Hinted handoff doesn't always succeed. Understanding failure scenarios helps you design for resilience and set appropriate expectations.
| Scenario | What Happens | Data Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hint expires before delivery | Hint deleted by TTL cleanup | Data lost for that key | Increase TTL, use anti-entropy repair |
| Substitute node fails | Hints lost with node | Data lost unless replicated | Replicate hints or use durable storage |
| Target never recovers | Hints expire over time | Data lost when all hints expire | Replace node, anti-entropy from other replicas |
| Network partition during handoff | Delivery fails, retried later | Delayed convergence | Implement retry with backoff |
| Target node wiped/replaced | Node ID changes, hints orphaned | Hints never deliver | Clean up hints for decommissioned nodes |
| Hint store full | New hints rejected | Some writes not hinted | Alert on disk usage, increase capacity |
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class RobustHintedHandoffManager extends HintedHandoffManager { private clusterMembership: ClusterMembershipService; private antiEntropy: AntiEntropyService; // Handle node replacement async handleNodeReplacement(oldNodeId: string, newNodeId: string): Promise<void> { console.log(`Node replacement: ${oldNodeId} -> ${newNodeId}`); // Get all hints destined for the old node const orphanedHints = await this.hintStore.getHints(oldNodeId); if (orphanedHints.length === 0) { console.log('No orphaned hints to migrate'); return; } console.log(`Migrating ${orphanedHints.length} hints to ${newNodeId}`); // Update hint targets for (const hint of orphanedHints) { // Delete old hint await this.hintStore.deleteHint(hint.id); // Create new hint for replacement node await this.createHint( newNodeId, hint.key, hint.value, hint.writeTimestamp, hint.ttlMs - (Date.now() - hint.hintCreatedAt) // Preserve remaining TTL ); } } // Handle hint store pressure async handleDiskPressure(): Promise<void> { const stats = await (this.hintStore as any).getStats(); const thresholds = { warningPercent: 70, criticalPercent: 90, }; const usagePercent = await this.getDiskUsagePercent(); if (usagePercent > thresholds.criticalPercent) { console.error(`CRITICAL: Hint store at ${usagePercent}% capacity`); // Emergency: delete oldest hints to free space const oldestHints = await this.getOldestHints(100); for (const hint of oldestHints) { await this.hintStore.deleteHint(hint.id); } console.warn('Deleted oldest hints to recover space - data may be lost'); } else if (usagePercent > thresholds.warningPercent) { console.warn(`WARNING: Hint store at ${usagePercent}% capacity`); // Accelerate delivery to healthy nodes await this.prioritizeDelivery(); } } // Handle prolonged outages with anti-entropy async handleProlongedOutage(nodeId: string, outageMs: number): Promise<void> { const hintTtlMs = 3 * 60 * 60 * 1000; // 3 hours if (outageMs > hintTtlMs * 0.8) { console.warn(`Node ${nodeId} approaching hint TTL, scheduling anti-entropy`); // Schedule full repair when node recovers this.clusterMembership.onNodeRecovery(nodeId, async () => { console.log(`Running anti-entropy repair for ${nodeId}`); // Anti-entropy will catch any data missed due to expired hints await this.antiEntropy.repairNode(nodeId); }); } } // Handle duplicate hints (optimization) async compactHints(): Promise<number> { const allHints = await this.hintStore.getAllHints(); // Group by target and key const latestByKey = new Map<string, Hint>(); const toDelete: string[] = []; for (const hint of allHints) { const compoundKey = `${hint.targetNodeId}:${hint.key}`; const existing = latestByKey.get(compoundKey); if (!existing || hint.writeTimestamp > existing.writeTimestamp) { if (existing) { toDelete.push(existing.id); } latestByKey.set(compoundKey, hint); } else { toDelete.push(hint.id); } } for (const hintId of toDelete) { await this.hintStore.deleteHint(hintId); } console.log(`Compacted ${toDelete.length} duplicate hints`); return toDelete.length; } private async getDiskUsagePercent(): Promise<number> { // Implementation depends on OS and storage return 0; } private async getOldestHints(count: number): Promise<Hint[]> { const allHints = await this.hintStore.getAllHints(); return allHints .sort((a, b) => a.hintCreatedAt - b.hintCreatedAt) .slice(0, count); } private async prioritizeDelivery(): Promise<void> { // Increase delivery threads/bandwidth temporarily }}Hinted handoff is a best-effort mechanism. It improves convergence speed but doesn't guarantee data delivery. Systems must include additional anti-entropy mechanisms (Merkle tree comparison, read repair) to ensure eventual consistency even when hints fail. Never design systems that assume 100% hint delivery success.
When hints fail or expire, data can become persistently inconsistent across replicas. Anti-entropy mechanisms detect and repair these inconsistencies through systematic comparison of replica state.
Merkle Trees:
The most efficient anti-entropy mechanism uses Merkle trees (hash trees). Each node maintains a Merkle tree summarizing its data:
Comparison Process:
This achieves O(log n) comparison complexity for identifying differences.
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import crypto from 'crypto'; interface MerkleNode { hash: string; left?: MerkleNode; right?: MerkleNode; keyRange?: { start: string; end: string }; // For leaf nodes} class MerkleTree { private root: MerkleNode | null = null; private leafCount: number; constructor(leafCount: number = 1024) { this.leafCount = leafCount; } // Build tree from key-value data async buildFromData(data: Map<string, any>): Promise<void> { // Sort keys and divide into buckets const sortedKeys = [...data.keys()].sort(); const buckets = this.divideToBuckets(sortedKeys, this.leafCount); // Create leaf nodes const leaves: MerkleNode[] = []; for (const bucket of buckets) { const bucketData = bucket.keys.map(k => `${k}:${JSON.stringify(data.get(k))}`).join('|'); leaves.push({ hash: this.hash(bucketData), keyRange: { start: bucket.keys[0] || '', end: bucket.keys[bucket.keys.length - 1] || '' }, }); } // Build tree from leaves up this.root = this.buildTreeFromLeaves(leaves); } private divideToBuckets(keys: string[], bucketCount: number): { keys: string[] }[] { const buckets: { keys: string[] }[] = []; const keysPerBucket = Math.ceil(keys.length / bucketCount); for (let i = 0; i < bucketCount; i++) { buckets.push({ keys: keys.slice(i * keysPerBucket, (i + 1) * keysPerBucket), }); } return buckets; } private buildTreeFromLeaves(leaves: MerkleNode[]): MerkleNode { if (leaves.length === 1) return leaves[0]; const parents: MerkleNode[] = []; for (let i = 0; i < leaves.length; i += 2) { const left = leaves[i]; const right = leaves[i + 1] || left; // Duplicate if odd number parents.push({ hash: this.hash(left.hash + right.hash), left, right: leaves[i + 1] ? right : undefined, }); } return this.buildTreeFromLeaves(parents); } private hash(data: string): string { return crypto.createHash('sha256').update(data).digest('hex').slice(0, 16); } getRootHash(): string { return this.root?.hash || ''; } // Find differences between local and remote trees async findDifferences( localTree: MerkleTree, remoteTree: MerkleTree, exchangeHash: (path: string) => Promise<string> ): Promise<{ start: string; end: string }[]> { const differences: { start: string; end: string }[] = []; async function compare( local: MerkleNode | undefined, path: string ): Promise<void> { if (!local) return; const remoteHash = await exchangeHash(path); if (local.hash === remoteHash) { // Subtrees are identical return; } if (local.keyRange) { // This is a leaf node - found a difference differences.push(local.keyRange); return; } // Recursively check children await compare(local.left, path + '0'); await compare(local.right, path + '1'); } await compare(localTree.root, ''); return differences; }} // Usage in anti-entropy repairasync function repairWithMerkleTree( localNode: Node, remoteNode: Node): Promise<void> { // Build local tree const localData = await localNode.getAllData(); const localTree = new MerkleTree(); await localTree.buildFromData(localData); // Exchange hashes with remote const remoteTree = new MerkleTree(); // Would be on remote node const differences = await localTree.findDifferences( localTree, remoteTree, async (path) => { // RPC to get hash at path from remote return remoteNode.getMerkleHash(path); } ); console.log(`Found ${differences.length} differing ranges`); // Synchronize only the differing ranges for (const range of differences) { const remoteData = await remoteNode.getDataInRange(range.start, range.end); await localNode.reconcile(remoteData); }}Hinted handoff in production requires careful monitoring. Without visibility into hint health, you may unknowingly lose data during outages.
| Metric | What It Indicates | Alert Threshold | Action When High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hint count | Pending hints waiting for delivery | Increasing trend | Check target node health |
| Hints per target | Hints for each down node | 100,000 | Prioritize recovery of that node |
| Hint creation rate | How fast new hints are created | delivery rate | Increase delivery capacity |
| Hint delivery rate | Successful deliveries per second | < creation rate | Scale delivery, check network |
| Hint age (oldest) | Longest-waiting hint | 50% of TTL | Urgent node recovery needed |
| Hint TTL expirations | Lost hints due to timeout | 0 | Data loss occurring, trigger repair |
| Hint store disk usage | Storage consumed by hints | 70% | Increase disk, accelerate delivery |
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interface HintMetrics { timestamp: number; totalHints: number; hintsByTarget: Map<string, number>; creationRate: number; // hints/sec deliveryRate: number; // hints/sec oldestHintAge: number; // ms expirationCount: number; diskUsagePercent: number;} class HintMonitoringService { private metrics: HintMetrics[] = []; private alertThresholds = { totalHints: 500000, hintsPerTarget: 100000, creationVsDeliveryRatio: 1.5, oldestHintAgePct: 0.5, // % of TTL expirations: 1, diskUsage: 70, }; private hintTtlMs: number; constructor(hintTtlMs: number = 3 * 60 * 60 * 1000) { this.hintTtlMs = hintTtlMs; } async collectMetrics(hintStore: HintStore): Promise<HintMetrics> { const stats = await (hintStore as any).getStats(); const metrics: HintMetrics = { timestamp: Date.now(), totalHints: stats.totalHints, hintsByTarget: stats.hintsByTarget, creationRate: this.calculateRate('creation'), deliveryRate: this.calculateRate('delivery'), oldestHintAge: stats.oldestHintAge, expirationCount: await this.getExpirationCount(hintStore), diskUsagePercent: await this.getDiskUsage(), }; this.metrics.push(metrics); // Check alerts this.evaluateAlerts(metrics); return metrics; } private calculateRate(type: 'creation' | 'delivery'): number { // Calculate from recent metrics // Implementation depends on metric collection system return 0; } private async getExpirationCount(hintStore: HintStore): Promise<number> { // Would be tracked by the store return 0; } private async getDiskUsage(): Promise<number> { // OS-specific implementation return 0; } private evaluateAlerts(metrics: HintMetrics): void { const alerts: string[] = []; // Total hints if (metrics.totalHints > this.alertThresholds.totalHints) { alerts.push(`CRITICAL: Total hints (${metrics.totalHints}) exceeds threshold`); } // Per-target hints for (const [target, count] of metrics.hintsByTarget) { if (count > this.alertThresholds.hintsPerTarget) { alerts.push(`WARNING: Hints for ${target} (${count}) exceeds threshold`); } } // Creation vs delivery rate if (metrics.creationRate > metrics.deliveryRate * this.alertThresholds.creationVsDeliveryRatio) { alerts.push( `WARNING: Hint creation (${metrics.creationRate}/s) outpacing delivery (${metrics.deliveryRate}/s)` ); } // Oldest hint age const agePct = metrics.oldestHintAge / this.hintTtlMs; if (agePct > this.alertThresholds.oldestHintAgePct) { alerts.push( `WARNING: Oldest hint at ${(agePct * 100).toFixed(1)}% of TTL. Node may not recover in time.` ); } // Expirations if (metrics.expirationCount > this.alertThresholds.expirations) { alerts.push( `CRITICAL: ${metrics.expirationCount} hints expired. DATA LOSS MAY HAVE OCCURRED.` ); } // Disk usage if (metrics.diskUsagePercent > this.alertThresholds.diskUsage) { alerts.push( `WARNING: Hint disk usage at ${metrics.diskUsagePercent}%. May reject new hints soon.` ); } if (alerts.length > 0) { console.log('=== HINT HANDOFF ALERTS ==='); alerts.forEach(a => console.log(a)); // Send to alerting system this.sendAlerts(alerts); } } private sendAlerts(alerts: string[]): void { // Integration with PagerDuty, Slack, etc. } // Runbook actions async runRunbook(action: 'prioritize_delivery' | 'expand_disk' | 'trigger_repair'): Promise<void> { switch (action) { case 'prioritize_delivery': console.log('ACTION: Increasing hint delivery threads and bandwidth'); break; case 'expand_disk': console.log('ACTION: Expanding hint storage capacity'); break; case 'trigger_repair': console.log('ACTION: Scheduling anti-entropy repair for affected nodes'); break; } }}Create runbooks for: (1) Node offline > 1 hour: Monitor hint accumulation, prepare for repair; (2) Node offline > hint TTL: Trigger anti-entropy repair immediately on recovery; (3) Hint disk > 80%: Expand disk or increase delivery bandwidth; (4) Multiple nodes down: Consider degrading to strict quorum to prevent hint explosion; (5) Hint expirations detected: Treat as data loss incident, investigate root cause.
Hinted handoff works in concert with read repair to ensure eventual consistency. While hinted handoff is proactive (pushing data when nodes recover), read repair is reactive (fixing inconsistencies when they're discovered during reads).
How Read Repair Works:
Synergy with Hinted Handoff:
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interface VersionedValue { value: any; version: number; timestamp: number; nodeId: string;} class ReadRepairCoordinator { async readWithRepair( key: string, replicas: Node[], readQuorum: number ): Promise<any> { // Query all replicas const responses = await Promise.allSettled( replicas.map(async r => { const result = await r.read(key); return { ...result, nodeId: r.id }; }) ); const successResponses = responses .filter((r): r is PromiseFulfilledResult<VersionedValue> => r.status === 'fulfilled') .map(r => r.value); if (successResponses.length < readQuorum) { throw new Error(`Read quorum not met: ${successResponses.length}/${readQuorum}`); } // Find the latest version const latest = successResponses.reduce((a, b) => a.timestamp > b.timestamp ? a : b ); // Identify stale replicas const staleReplicas = successResponses .filter(r => r.version !== latest.version) .map(r => r.nodeId); // Trigger async read repair for stale replicas if (staleReplicas.length > 0) { this.triggerReadRepair(key, latest, staleReplicas); } return latest.value; } private async triggerReadRepair( key: string, latestValue: VersionedValue, staleNodeIds: string[] ): Promise<void> { // Fire-and-forget repair setImmediate(async () => { console.log(`Read repair: updating ${staleNodeIds.length} stale replicas for ${key}`); for (const nodeId of staleNodeIds) { try { await this.writeToNode(nodeId, key, latestValue); console.log(`Repaired ${nodeId} for key ${key}`); } catch (error) { console.warn(`Failed to repair ${nodeId}: ${error}`); // Could create a hint if the repair fails } } }); } private async writeToNode(nodeId: string, key: string, value: VersionedValue): Promise<void> { // RPC to write data }} // Combined healing strategyclass ConsistencyHealingStrategy { private hintManager: HintedHandoffManager; private readRepair: ReadRepairCoordinator; private antiEntropy: AntiEntropyService; /** * Choose the appropriate healing mechanism based on the situation */ async heal( key: string, context: 'write_failure' | 'read_inconsistency' | 'scheduled_repair' ): Promise<void> { switch (context) { case 'write_failure': // Node is down during write - create hint console.log('Creating hint for later delivery'); // Hinted handoff will deliver when node recovers break; case 'read_inconsistency': // Found stale data during read - repair immediately console.log('Triggering read repair'); // Read repair updates stale replicas break; case 'scheduled_repair': // Proactive consistency check console.log('Running anti-entropy repair'); // Merkle tree comparison finds all inconsistencies break; } }}Hinted handoff is the mechanism that makes sloppy quorums practical, enabling distributed systems to maintain write availability during node failures while ensuring eventual data consistency. Let's consolidate the essential knowledge:
Congratulations! You've completed Module 5: Quorum-Based Replication. You now understand the mathematical foundations of quorum systems, how to configure N/W/R parameters for different workloads, the power and limitations of tunable consistency, when sloppy quorums are appropriate, and how hinted handoff enables eventual consistency. These concepts form the foundation for understanding distributed databases like Cassandra, DynamoDB, and Riak, and will serve you well in designing highly available, eventually consistent systems.