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To 2^64 and Beyond: Modern Approaches to Distributed Identifier Algorithms

Mons Anderson

from Independent Expert (Tbilisi)

About speaker

Seasoned architect specializing in distributed systems and database development, with a huge background in various programming languages, and extensive experience in developing highly available and cloud solutions across leading tech companies. Independent Tarantool Researcher.

About speakers company

Tarantool is an in-memory computing platform with a flexible data scheme for efficiently building high-load applications.

Abstracts

broad

In this talk, we will explore the evolution and diversity of identifier algorithms, essential for ensuring unique identification in distributed systems. Starting with the limitations of the traditional autoincrement method, we'll delve into the world of UUIDs, examining their pros and cons.

Next, we will explore various modern alternatives, such as Twitter's Snowflake, which is a popular system design interview question, along with KSUID, NanoID, and ULID, highlighting their unique features and use cases. This section will advance to UUID v7, positioned as a successor to ULID.

The conclusion will focus on sophisticated distributed transaction ID generation techniques used by big tech companies, including Google's TrueTime, Amazon's Time Sync, and Facebook's Precision Time Protocol.

This comprehensive overview will equip you with a deep understanding of identifier algorithms and their critical role in distributed systems.

The talk was accepted to the conference program