We revive the `join_ring` option. We support it only in the
Raft-based topology, as we plan to remove the gossip-based topology
when we fix the last blocker - the implementation of the manual
recovery tool. In the Raft-based topology, a node can be assigned
tokens only once when it joins the cluster. Hence, we disallow
joining the ring later, which is possible in Cassandra.
The main idea behind the solution is simple. We make the unsupported
special case of zero tokens a supported normal case. Nodes with zero
tokens assigned are called "zero-token nodes" from now on.
From the topology point of view, zero-token nodes are the same as
token-owning nodes. They can be in the same states, etc. From the
data point of view, they are different. They are not members of
the token ring, so they are not present in
`token_metadata::_normal_token_owners`. Hence, they are ignored in
all non-local replication strategies. The tablet load balancer also
ignores them.
Topology operations involving zero-token nodes are simplified:
- `add` and `replace` finish in the `join_group0` state, so creating
a new CDC generation and streaming are skipped,
- `removenode` and `decommission` skip streaming,
- `rebuild` does not even contact the topology coordinator as there
is nothing to rebuild,
Also, if the topology operation involves a token-owning node,
zero-token nodes are ignored in streaming.
Zero-token nodes can be used as coordinator-only nodes, just like in
Cassandra. They can handle requests just like token-owning nodes.
The main motivation behind zero-token nodes is that they can prevent
the Raft majority loss efficiently. Zero-token nodes are group 0
voters, but they can run on much weaker and cheaper machines because
they do not replicate data and handle client requests by default
(drivers ignore them). For example, if there are two DCs, one with 4
nodes and one with 5 nodes, if we add a DC with 2 zero-token nodes,
every DC will contain less than half of the nodes, so we won't lose
the majority when any DC dies.
Another way of preventing the Raft majority loss is changing the
voter set, which is tracked by scylladb/scylladb#18793. That approach
can be used together with zero-token nodes. In the example above, if
we choose equal numbers of voters in both DCs, then a DC with one
zero-token node will be sufficient. However, in the typical setup of
2 DCs with the same number of nodes it is enough to add a DC with
only one zero-token node without changing the voter set.
Zero-token nodes could also be used as load balancers in the
Alternator.
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