Algorithms

Rendezvous hashing

Alternative to consistent hashing — pick the node that scores highest for the key.

In plain terms

For each (key, node) pair compute hash; key goes to node with max hash. No virtual nodes needed; balanced by construction.

Origin

David Thaler and Chinya Ravishankar, "A Name-Based Mapping Scheme for Rendezvous," 1996. Alternative to consistent hashing — usually simpler, no virtual nodes needed.

Where it shows up in production

Akamai Stable Marriage A variant used in their server-selection.
Disney+ shard assignment Public engineering writeups describe rendezvous hashing for cache-key routing.

Sources & further reading

Paper Thaler & Ravishankar — Rendezvous (1996)

Found this useful?