Time, Clocks & Ordering

Advanced · 15 min read · High-Level Design, Distributed Systems Theory

Clock skew, Lamport clocks, vector clocks and hybrid logical clocks.

This is an Advanced lesson, part of Premium. What it covers:

  • Two kinds of clocks
  • Why physical clocks can't be trusted for ordering
  • Logical clocks
  • Hybrid logical clocks (HLC)
  • Bounded uncertainty: TrueTime
  • Practical ordering techniques in designs
  • Interview questions
  • Practice
  • Further reading

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