Consistent Hash RingIn consistent hashing, the servers, as well as the keys, are hashed, and it is by this hash that they are looked up.
The hash space is large, and is treated as if it wraps around to form a circle - hence hash ring.
The process of creating a hash for each server is equivalent to placing it at a point on the circumference of this circle.
When a key needs to be looked up, it is hashed, which again corresponds to a point on the circle.
In order to find its server, one then simply moves round the circle clockwise from this point until the next server is found.
If no server is found from that point to end of the hash space, the first server is used - this is the "wrapping round" that makes the hash space circular.
The only remaining problem is that in practice hashing algorithms are likely to result in clusters of servers on the ring (or, to be more precise, some servers with a disproportionately large space before them), and this will result in greater load on the first server in the cluster and less on the remainder.
This can be ameliorated by adding each server to the ring a number of times in different places.
This is achieved by having a replica count, which applies to all servers in the ring, and when adding a server, looping from 0 to the count - 1, and hashing a string made from both the server and the loop variable to produce the position.
This has the effect of distributing the servers more evenly over the ring.
Note that this has nothing to do with server replication; each of the replicas represents the same physical server, and replication of data between servers is an entirely unrelated issue.
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