Online Migration From An Eventually Consistent System To A Strongly Consistent System: abstract simplified (17716093)

• This abstract for appeared for patent application number 17716093 Titled 'Online Migration From An Eventually Consistent System To A Strongly Consistent System'

Simplified Explanation

This approach describes a method to transfer data from one distributed system to another without locking the data. It involves setting up a replication between the two systems, where the first system initially acts as the primary system and receives write requests. Each write to the first system is asynchronously updated in the second system. Once the second system catches up and has the same data as the first system, it can become the primary system and handle all future read and write requests directly.

Original Abstract Submitted

Generally disclosed herein is an approach to migrate data from a first type of distributed system to a second type of distributed system without locking data, where transactional dual writes are not available across the two systems. The approach starts by setting up a bi-directional replication between the first system and the second system. The first system will initially operate as a primary system, where the primary system receives and serves write requests from clients or other devices. For each write to the first system, the second system is updated with an asynchronous write. When the second system is caught up to the first system, such that both the first and second systems reflect approximately the same data, the second system can be switched over to serve as the primary system. The second system can now directly receive and serve all future read and write requests.