Distributed Data Storing Based on Distributed Transaction Ledger

Abstract

The primary trend in the development of modern information technologies is the migration of computations to the cloud, making distributed computing the dominant strategy for information processing. In particular, this poses the challenge of reliable distributed data storage. A well-known approach to solving the problem of distributed data storage is blockchain or, more generally, distributed ledger technology. A key challenge of this technology is creating an effective mechanism for the global numbering of registry records. The complexity of solving this problem results from the fundamental limitations of distributed computing — the inability to accurately synchronize distributed computing processes and the limitations resulting from the CAP theorem for distributed data stores. The authors attempt to circumvent the mentioned limitations based on the hypothesis that such limitations can be overcome by considering both the network topology and narrowing the class of distributed systems to distributed registers. The work is based on methods of modeling distributed computing, particularly the model of space-time diagrams proposed by L. Lamport. This model allows us to introduce such a tool as logical clocks, including Lamport's logical clock algorithm. Unfortunately, Lamport's logical clock algorithm allows assigning a common timestamp to different events if they are concurrent. The paper proposes an algorithm that is a composition of Lamport's clock algorithm and the wave algorithm, which is not only a logical clock but also assigns different timestamps to different events. Thus, this algorithm provides a mechanism for the global numbering of entries of distributed ledger replicas. A problematic issue remains gaps in the series of ledger entry numbers. Thus, the paper proposes an effective mechanism for the global numbering of records of a distributed register and identifies a shortcoming of this mechanism. Further study is to identify specific conditions in terms of network topology that would ensure the absence of the mentioned shortcoming.