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Understanding Paxos

May 25, 2020 | Reading Time: 1 min

Below are the steps recommended to read the Paxos made simple paper by Leslie Lamport and understand Paxos.

Steps

  1. Read full paper. Paxos made simple
“Begin at the beginning,” the King said gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
-- The King, Alice in wonderland.

  1. Re-look at why is “leader election required”. 2.5 -> 2.4 -> 2.3

  2. Re-look the requirements for proposer P2c -> P2b -> P2a -> P2

  3. Re-look the requirements for acceptor P1a -> P1

  4. Go through the algorithm again. i.e Phase 1 and Phase 2.

  5. Repeat 2-4 again. Do 1-4, if still not sure.