Quorum systems for intrusion-tolerance based on trusted timely computing base

Quorum systems have been used to solve the problem of data consistency in distributed fault-tolerance systems. But when intrusions occur, traditional quorum systems have some disadvantages. For example, synchronous quorum systems are subject to DOS attacks, while asynchronous quorum systems need a larger system size (at least 3ƒ+ 1 for generic data, and ƒ fewer for self-verifying data). In order to solve the problems above, an intrusion-tolerance quorum system (ITQS) of hybrid time model based on trust timely computing base is presented (TTCB). The TTCB is a trust secure real-time component inside the server with a well defined interface and separated from the operation system. It is in the synchronous communication environment while the application layer in the server deals with read-write requests and executes update-copy protocols asynchronously. The architectural hybridization of synchrony and asynchrony can achieve the data consistency and availability correctly. We also build two kinds of ITQSes based on TTCB, i.e., the symmetrical and the asymmetrical TTCB quorum systems. In the performance evaluations, we show that TTCB quorum systems are of smaller size, lower load and higher availability.