Split Brain occurs when primary and secondary systems both act as primary, causing network disruptions and inconsistent data handling.
Causes and Detection of Split Brain
Split brain in computing occurs when network partitions cause nodes in a cluster to lose communication, leading to multiple nodes acting as the primary. This can result in data inconsistencies and network disruptions.
- Network Partitions: When clusters lose communication but remain connected to the network, causing nodes to think others are offline.
- Master-Slave Failover: When the master node briefly goes offline and returns, leading both nodes to believe they are the master.
- Heartbeat Failures: Nodes fail to receive regular status updates, causing them to assume others are down.
- Quorum Loss: Insufficient nodes to establish a consensus, leading to split brain.
Effects on Network and Data Integrity
Split brain scenarios can significantly impact network and data integrity.
- Data Corruption: Conflicting updates during network partitions lead to inconsistencies.
- Network Downtime: Nodes lose communication, causing performance degradation.
- Resource Conflicts: Competing nodes may result in data loss and corruption.
