phi-accrual-detector · shipping · also phi failure detector, phi accrual detector

Phi accrual failure detector

A phi accrual failure detector expresses suspicion as the negative base-10 logarithm of an estimated heartbeat inter-arrival tail probability.

A threshold converts the score into an action; the score is not a posterior probability of node failure. Its meaning depends on the arrival model. [1] [3]

Cassandra 5.0.0 scales elapsed time divided by the sampled mean by 1/ln(10) for threshold comparisons and JMX reporting. This differs from the original normal-tail implementation. Seeding, filtering and pause handling also affect behavior. [2]

Relations

related
failure-detector, interarrival-time, gray-failure, io-fencing

Citations

  1. Hayashibara, Defago, Yared and Katayama, The phi accrual failure detector, JAIST IS-RR-2004-010 (10 May 2004), sections IV-V. (accessed 2026-10-17)
  2. Apache Cassandra 5.0.0: FailureDetector.java, ArrivalWindow.phi, interpret and getPhiValues. (accessed 2026-10-17)
  3. Phi failure detectors: suspicion is not a failure probability (accessed 2026-10-17)

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