{
  "slug": "unserializable-write",
  "term": "Unserializable write",
  "aliases": [
    "unserializable writes"
  ],
  "definition": "An unserializable write is a storage failure in which recovered contents cannot be reconciled with an operation order allowed by the known write history.",
  "note": "In the FAST 2013 power-fault study, the relevant history includes synchronous issue and completion ordering. A record can pass its own checksum while the collection violates that history. This storage-recovery usage is not a claim that a database offers serializable transaction isolation. [zheng-power]",
  "status": "shipping",
  "advantages": [],
  "limitations": [],
  "related": [
    "power-loss-protection",
    "lost-write",
    "torn-write",
    "checksum",
    "crash-consistency"
  ],
  "supersedes": [],
  "supersededBy": [],
  "firstSeen": null,
  "lastSeen": null,
  "citations": [
    {
      "id": "zheng-power",
      "title": "Zheng et al., FAST 2013, section 3.2: Detecting global failures",
      "url": "https://www.usenix.org/system/files/conference/fast13/fast13-final80.pdf",
      "accessed": "2026-10-13"
    }
  ],
  "updated": "2026-10-13"
}