In a distributed system, faults are categorized into the following two types:
- Fail-stop faults: These are benign faults that cause nodes to stop participating in the consensus protocol due to hardware or software crashes. The nodes will stop responding when the fail-stop fault occurs.
- Byzantine faults: These are faults that cause nodes to behave erratically. Leslie Lampert also identified and characterized this category of fault as the Byzantine Generals' Problem.
The Byzantine Generals' Problem is conceptualized on the basis of a situation where a group of generals, each commanding a part of the Byzantine army, have surrounded an enemy fort. To successfully attack and take over the fort, all the generals ...
