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Encyclopedia of Database Systems pp 1403–1404Cite as

Eventual Consistency

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Synonyms

Lazy replication; Optimistic replication

Definition

In a replicated database, the consistency level defines whether and how the values of the replicas of a logical object may diverge in the presence of updates. Eventual consistency is the weakest consistency level that guarantees convergence. Informally, it requires that all replicas of an object will eventually reach the same final value, assuming that no new updates are submitted to the object.

Formal Definition and Usage

Eventual consistency is an important correctness criteria in systems with a lazy, update-anywhere strategy, also referred to as optimistic replication. Update operations can be submitted and executed on any node, and the propagation of updates occurs lazily after they are committed. Conflict resolution and reconciliation must ensure that all replicas (copies) of a logical object eventually converge to the same value. Different objects are considered independent. Especially in wide-area settings, also...

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Recommended Reading

  1. Saito Y, Shapiro M. Optimistic replication. ACM Comput Surv. 2005;37(1):42–81.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  2. Vogels W. Eventually consistent. ACM Queue. 2008;6(6):14–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Terry D. Replicated data consistency explained through baseball. Commun ACM. 2013;56(12): 82–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Inria Paris, Paris, France

    Marc Shapiro

  2. Sorbonne-Universités-UPMC-LIP6, Paris, France

    Marc Shapiro

  3. School of Computer Science, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Bettina Kemme

Authors
  1. Marc Shapiro
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  2. Bettina Kemme
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marc Shapiro .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Ling Liu

  2. University of Waterloo School of Computer Science, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. Tamer Özsu

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© 2018 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

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Shapiro, M., Kemme, B. (2018). Eventual Consistency. In: Liu, L., Özsu, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8265-9_1366

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