Concise version vectors in WinFS

Abstract

Conflicts naturally arise in optimistically replicated systems. The common way to detect update conflicts is via version vectors, whose storage and communication overhead are number of replicas × number of objects. These costs may be prohibitive for large systems. This paper presents predecessor vectors with exceptions (PVEs), a novel optimistic replication technique developed for Microsoft’s WinFS system. The paper contains a systematic study of PVE’s performance gains over traditional schemes. The results demonstrate a dramatic reduction of storage and communication overhead in normal scenarios, during which communication disruptions are infrequent. Moreover, they identify a cross-over threshold in communication failure-rate, beyond which PVEs loses efficiency compared with traditional schemes.