Distributed Transaction

What does Distributed Transaction mean?

A distributed transaction is a set of interdependent Database operations executed across multiple computers or systems. These transactions ensure that the data remains consistent and accurate across all involved systems despite potential failures or network issues. Distributed transactions are crucial in distributed computing environments, where data is stored and processed across multiple nodes.

To execute distributed transactions, a coordinating transaction manager (TM) is employed. The TM coordinates the execution of the transaction across all participating systems. Each system has a local transaction manager (LTM) that manages the local execution of the transaction. The TM and LTMs communicate to ensure that the transaction is executed atomically (as a single unit) and consistently across all systems.

Distributed transactions follow the ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) properties. Atomicity ensures that the transaction is executed as a whole or Not at all, preventing partial execution. Consistency guarantees that the data remains in a valid state after the transaction completes. Isolation ensures that concurrent transactions do not interfere with each other, preserving data integrity. Durability ensures that committed transactions are permanently stored, even in the event of system failures.

Applications

Distributed transactions are essential in various technology applications, including:

• E-commerce systems: Ensure that multiple entities, such as online stores, payment gateways, and inventory systems, participate in a transaction consistently, preventing data inconsistencies and lost orders.
• Banking systems: Facilitate complex financial transactions involving multiple accounts, banks, and currencies, ensuring accuracy and atomicity of funds transfers.
• Supply chain management: Allow multiple stakeholders across the supply chain, such as suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors, to collaborate on transactions, ensuring consistent inventory updates and order fulfillment.
• Cloud computing: Enable seamless data sharing and transaction coordination among multiple cloud services and applications.
• Microservices architecture: Facilitate consistent data management across microservices, which are small, independent services that work together to form a larger application.

History

The concept of distributed transactions originated in the 1970s with the development of distributed database systems. Early distributed transaction models focused on ensuring atomicity and consistency but lacked support for isolation and durability. In the 1980s, the two-phase commit protocol was developed, which provided a reliable mechanism for achieving isolation and durability in distributed transactions.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, distributed transaction technologies evolved to support increasingly complex and scalable applications. The development of distributed transaction managers (TMs) and local transaction managers (LTMs) improved transaction coordination and performance. Additionally, new protocols were developed to handle more complex scenarios, such as multi-site transactions and heterogeneous environments.

Today, distributed transactions are an essential component of modern distributed computing systems, enabling seamless data management and coordination across multiple systems and applications.