Hinted handoff
When a replica is down, a temporary node holds its writes and replays them later.
Origin
Dynamo paper (DeCandia et al., SOSP 2007) named the technique. The idea predates Dynamo — write-behind buffers in older systems served the same role.
Where it shows up in production
- Cassandra A coordinator stores hints for a down replica for up to 3 hours by default; replays when the node returns.
- Riak Same pattern — hints buffered locally and replayed asynchronously.
Sources & further reading
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