RAFT Consensus Algorithm Implementation

📌 Overview

This repository contains an implementation of the RAFT consensus algorithm in Go. The implementation leverages a custom-built remote library to facilitate Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs) between RAFT peers, ensuring distributed consensus across multiple servers.

The RAFT consensus algorithm is designed to manage replicated logs in distributed systems and ensures leader election, log replication, and fault tolerance.

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🚀 Features

• RAFT Peer Management: Handles the interaction between nodes in the RAFT cluster.
• Leader Election: Nodes vote to elect a leader in case of failures.
• Log Replication: Ensures consistency across nodes by synchronizing logs.
• Heartbeat Mechanism: Prevents leader re-elections by periodically sending heartbeats.
• Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Handling: Implements efficient inter-node communication.

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📚 Reference Papers & Resources

This implementation is based on the following references:

• Extended RAFT Paper - MIT
• RAFT Official Website
• Distributed Systems Notes - University of Cambridge
• Various articles and YouTube tutorials.

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📂 Project Structure

├── remote/   # Contains the custom-built remote library for handling RPCs
├── raft/     # Contains the RAFT implementation

• remote/: Handles all RPC interactions between RAFT nodes.
• raft/: Contains the core RAFT consensus algorithm implementation.

.
├── Makefile
├── README.md
└── src
    ├── go.mod
    ├── raft
    │   ├── raft.go
    │   └── raft_test.go
    └── remote
        └── remote.go

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You can use the boiler plate code and implement yourself

🛠️ Implementing RAFT

Initial Setup

• Copy your remote library code from Lab 1 into src/remote/.
• The raft package includes a base structure aligned with the RAFT paper and test suite requirements.
• Your goal is to complete the RAFT protocol implementation, ensuring compliance with the Canvas assignment specifications.

Development Guidelines

• You can create additional files in the raft/ package as needed.
• Use appropriate data structures, functions, and Go routines.
• Ensure compatibility with the existing test suite (raft_test.go).
• Read the test cases and controller logic to understand the expected behavior.

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✅ Testing Your RAFT Implementation

Once you are ready to test your implementation:

Using Go Test Commands

go test ./raft

Using Makefile Rules

The Makefile includes predefined test execution rules:

• make checkpoint – Runs checkpoint tests.
• make final – Runs final evaluation tests.
• make all – Runs all test cases.
• make checkpoint-race, make test-race, make all-race – Execute tests with Go's race detector to ensure thread safety.

🚀 Pro Tip: You are encouraged to create your own additional tests for further validation!

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📄 Generating Documentation

To ensure clear and readable package documentation, we encourage writing detailed comments in the codebase.

Generate Documentation Using Makefile

make docs

This command pipes go doc output into a formatted text file for easy navigation and manual grading.

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🚀 RAFT Consensus Algorithm Implementation - Ensuring Reliable Distributed Consensus!