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Two-Phase Commit Protocol

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Encyclopedia of Database Systems

Synonyms

XA standard

Definition

The Two-phase commit (2PC) protocol is a distributed algorithm to ensure the consistent termination of a transaction in a distributed environment. Thus, via 2PC a unanimous decision is reached and enforced among multiple participating servers whether to commit or abort a given transaction, thereby guaranteeing atomicity. The protocol proceeds in two phases, namely the prepare (or voting) and the commit (or decision) phase, which explains the protocol’s name.

The protocol is executed by a coordinator process, while the participating servers are called participants. When the transaction’s initiator issues a request to commit the transaction, the coordinator starts the first phase of the 2PC protocol by querying – via prepare messages – all participants whether to abort or to commit the transaction. If all participants vote to commit then in the second phase the coordinator informs all participants to commit their share of the transaction by sending a commit...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Münster, Münster, Germany

    Jens Lechtenbörger

Authors
  1. Jens Lechtenbörger
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 266 Ferst Drive, 30332-0765, Atlanta, GA, USA

    LING LIU (Professor) (Professor)

  2. Database Research Group David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. TAMER ÖZSU (Professor and Director, University Research Chair) (Professor and Director, University Research Chair)

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© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Lechtenbörger, J. (2009). Two-Phase Commit Protocol. In: LIU, L., ÖZSU, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_2

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