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Chapter IV: Distributed System Concerns

Heartbeats

Periodic signals that let a system detect when a node has failed.

In short

Heartbeats are periodic "I'm alive" signals that let a system detect when a node has failed.

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Key takeaways

  • Periodic signals detect node failure when beats stop arriving.
  • Balance interval: too fast wastes resources, too slow delays detection.
  • Tolerate a few missed beats to avoid false-positive failures.