Understanding Consistent Hashing in Distributed Systems

Consistent hashing is a distributed hashing technique used in computer science and distributed systems to achieve load balancing and minimize the need for rehashing when the number of nodes in a system changes. It involves distributing keys uniformly across a cluster of nodes and uses a hash ring to represent the requests and server nodes. Consistent hashing helps in load balancing, failure recovery, and scalability, but it also comes with complexities related to hash function effectiveness, performance cost, lack of flexibility, high resource use, and management.