A high performance reliable atomic group protocol

A novel and efficient group communication (multicast) protocol, based on a single logical-clock token ring approach, is described. The protocol is highly efficient and it guarantees total ordering and atomicity of multicast messages for asynchronous distributed systems. Unlike other logical token-ring algorithms, the protocol does not have a problem of token loss. The optimized fault-tolerant algorithms of the protocol can handle process failures and network partitioning. The experiment results of the implemented protocol in a local area network of workstations have demonstrated that its performance is better than any existing solutions in the same environment, especially, for achieving message total ordering and atomic (safe) delivery.