Distributed Log at the Heart of Modern Architectures

This article delves into the concept of a Distributed Log, a fundamental data structure that powers three key architectural patterns: Consensus Protocols (like Paxos), Event Sourcing, and Durable Execution. It explains the append-only log's properties of immutability and ordering, showing how these enable reliable distributed systems. The piece traces the origins of these concepts from the 1980s to present day, highlighting their shared reliance on the distributed log mechanism. Aimed at software engineers and architects, it provides a technical deep dive into how this simple structure supports complex distributed computing challenges.