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Merged in rnicoll-nms-docs (pull request #72)

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Document network map service
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Ross Nicoll 2016-04-28 17:12:47 +01:00
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docs/source/messaging.rst
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@ -94,4 +94,29 @@ sit around waiting for messages to be delivered. Handlers will then be invoked o
more difficult style of programming that can be used to increase the realism of the unit tests by ensuring multiple
nodes run in parallel, just as they would on a real network spread over multiple machines.
Network Map Service
-------------------
Supporting the messaging layer is a network map service, which is responsible for tracking public nodes on the network.
Nodes have an internal component, the network map cache, which contains a copy of the network map. When a node starts up
its cache fetches a copy of the full network map, and requests to be notified of changes. The node then registers itself
with the network map service, and the service notifies subscribers that a new node has joined the network. Nodes do not
automatically deregister themselves, so far (for example) nodes going offline briefly for maintenance
Nodes submit signed changes to the map service, which then forwards them on to nodes which have requested to be notified
of changes. This process achieves basic consensus of the overall network map, although currently it has no formal
process for identifying or recovering from issues such as network outages. Later versions are planned to address this.
Registration change notifications contain a serial number, which indicates their relative ordering, similar to the
serial number on DNS records. These numbers must increase with each change, but are not expected to be sequential.
Changes are then signed by the party whom the node represents to confirm the association between party and node.
The change, signature and public key are then sent to the network map service, which verifies the signature and then
updates the network map accordingly.
The network map cache currently supports:
* Looking up nodes by service
* Looking up node for a party
* Suggesting a node providing a specific service, based on suitability for a contract and parties, for example suggesting
an appropriate interest rates oracle for a interest rate swap contract. Currently no recommendation logic is in place
(the code simply picks the first registered node that supports the required service), however.