Use consistent hash to heartbeat to a few nodes instead of all, see #2284

* Previously heartbeat messages was sent to all other members, i.e.
  each member was monitored by all other members in the cluster.
* This was the number one know scalability bottleneck, due to the
  number of interconnections.
* Limit sending of heartbeats to a few (5) members. Select and
  re-balance with consistent hashing algorithm when new members
  are added or removed.
* Send a few EndHeartbeat when ending send of Heartbeat messages.

.gitignore

@@ -67,3 +67,4 @@ redis/
 beanstalk/
 .scalastyle
 bin/
+.worksheet

akka-cluster/src/main/resources/reference.conf

@@ -78,6 +78,10 @@ akka {
       # how often should the node send out heartbeats?
       heartbeat-interval = 1s
 
+      # Number of member nodes that each member will send heartbeat messages to,
+      # i.e. each node will be monitored by this number of other nodes.
+      monitored-by-nr-of-members = 5
+
       # defines the failure detector threshold
       #     A low threshold is prone to generate many wrong suspicions but ensures
       #     a quick detection in the event of a real crash. Conversely, a high

akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/Cluster.scala

@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ class Cluster(val system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends Extension {
   val settings = new ClusterSettings(system.settings.config, system.name)
   import settings._
 
-  val selfAddress = system.provider match {
+  val selfAddress: Address = system.provider match {
     case c: ClusterActorRefProvider ⇒ c.transport.address
     case other ⇒ throw new ConfigurationException(
       "ActorSystem [%s] needs to have a 'ClusterActorRefProvider' enabled in the configuration, currently uses [%s]".
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ class Cluster(val system: ExtendedActorSystem) extends Extension {
 
   log.info("Cluster Node [{}] - is starting up...", selfAddress)
 
-  val failureDetector = {
+  val failureDetector: FailureDetector = {
     import settings.{ FailureDetectorImplementationClass ⇒ fqcn }
     system.dynamicAccess.createInstanceFor[FailureDetector](
       fqcn, Seq(classOf[ActorSystem] -> system, classOf[ClusterSettings] -> settings)).recover({

akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterDaemon.scala

@@ -287,8 +287,8 @@ private[cluster] final class ClusterCoreDaemon(publisher: ActorRef) extends Acto
       // wipe the failure detector since we are starting fresh and shouldn't care about the past
       failureDetector.reset()
 
-      heartbeatSender ! JoinInProgress(address, Deadline.now + JoinTimeout)
       publish(localGossip)
+      heartbeatSender ! JoinInProgress(address, Deadline.now + JoinTimeout)
 
       context.become(initialized)
       if (address == selfAddress)

akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterHeartbeat.scala

@@ -5,18 +5,32 @@ package akka.cluster
 
 import language.postfixOps
 import scala.collection.immutable.SortedSet
-import akka.actor.{ ReceiveTimeout, ActorLogging, ActorRef, Address, Actor, RootActorPath, Props }
+import scala.annotation.tailrec
-import akka.pattern.{ CircuitBreaker, CircuitBreakerOpenException }
 import scala.concurrent.util.duration._
 import scala.concurrent.util.Deadline
 import scala.concurrent.util.FiniteDuration
-import akka.cluster.ClusterEvent._
 import java.net.URLEncoder
+import akka.actor.{ ActorLogging, ActorRef, Address, Actor, RootActorPath, PoisonPill, Props }
+import akka.pattern.{ CircuitBreaker, CircuitBreakerOpenException }
+import akka.cluster.ClusterEvent._
+import akka.routing.ConsistentHash
 
 /**
- * Sent at regular intervals for failure detection.
+ * INTERNAL API
  */
-case class Heartbeat(from: Address) extends ClusterMessage
+private[akka] object ClusterHeartbeatReceiver {
+  /**
+   * Sent at regular intervals for failure detection.
+   */
+  case class Heartbeat(from: Address) extends ClusterMessage
+
+  /**
+   * Tell failure detector at receiving side that it should
+   * remove the monitoring, because heartbeats will end from
+   * this node.
+   */
+  case class EndHeartbeat(from: Address) extends ClusterMessage
+}
 
 /**
  * INTERNAL API.
@@ -26,11 +40,13 @@ case class Heartbeat(from: Address) extends ClusterMessage
  * to Cluster message after message, but concurrent with other types of messages.
  */
 private[cluster] final class ClusterHeartbeatReceiver extends Actor with ActorLogging {
+  import ClusterHeartbeatReceiver._
 
   val failureDetector = Cluster(context.system).failureDetector
 
   def receive = {
-    case Heartbeat(from) ⇒ failureDetector heartbeat from
+    case Heartbeat(from)    ⇒ failureDetector heartbeat from
+    case EndHeartbeat(from) ⇒ failureDetector remove from
   }
 
 }
@@ -39,16 +55,11 @@ private[cluster] final class ClusterHeartbeatReceiver extends Actor with ActorLo
  * INTERNAL API
  */
 private[cluster] object ClusterHeartbeatSender {
-  /**
-   * Command to [akka.cluster.ClusterHeartbeatSenderWorker]], which will send [[akka.cluster.Heartbeat]]
-   * to the other node.
-   * Local only, no need to serialize.
-   */
-  case class SendHeartbeat(heartbeatMsg: Heartbeat, to: Address, deadline: Deadline)
-
   /**
    * Tell [akka.cluster.ClusterHeartbeatSender]] that this node has started joining of
-   * another node and heartbeats should be sent until it becomes member or deadline is overdue.
+   * another node and heartbeats should be sent unconditionally until it becomes
+   * member or deadline is overdue. This is done to be able to detect immediate death
+   * of the joining node.
    * Local only, no need to serialize.
    */
   case class JoinInProgress(address: Address, deadline: Deadline)
@@ -58,14 +69,17 @@ private[cluster] object ClusterHeartbeatSender {
  * INTERNAL API
  *
  * This actor is responsible for sending the heartbeat messages to
- * other nodes. Netty blocks when sending to broken connections. This actor
+ * a few other nodes that will monitor this node.
- * isolates sending to different nodes by using child workers for each target
+ *
+ * Netty blocks when sending to broken connections. This actor
+ * isolates sending to different nodes by using child actors for each target
  * address and thereby reduce the risk of irregular heartbeats to healty
  * nodes due to broken connections to other nodes.
  */
 private[cluster] final class ClusterHeartbeatSender extends Actor with ActorLogging {
   import ClusterHeartbeatSender._
-  import Member.addressOrdering
+  import ClusterHeartbeatSenderConnection._
+  import ClusterHeartbeatReceiver._
   import InternalClusterAction.HeartbeatTick
 
   val cluster = Cluster(context.system)
@@ -74,9 +88,14 @@ private[cluster] final class ClusterHeartbeatSender extends Actor with ActorLogg
   import context.dispatcher
 
   val selfHeartbeat = Heartbeat(selfAddress)
+  val selfEndHeartbeat = EndHeartbeat(selfAddress)
+  val selfAddressStr = selfAddress.toString
 
-  var nodes: SortedSet[Address] = SortedSet.empty
+  var all = Set.empty[Address]
-  var joinInProgress: Map[Address, Deadline] = Map.empty
+  var current = Set.empty[Address]
+  var ending = Map.empty[Address, Int]
+  var joinInProgress = Map.empty[Address, Deadline]
+  var consistentHash = ConsistentHash(Seq.empty[Address], HeartbeatConsistentHashingVirtualNodesFactor)
 
   // start periodic heartbeat to other nodes in cluster
   val heartbeatTask =
@@ -99,63 +118,146 @@ private[cluster] final class ClusterHeartbeatSender extends Actor with ActorLogg
   def clusterHeartbeatConnectionFor(address: Address): ActorRef =
     context.actorFor(RootActorPath(address) / "system" / "cluster" / "heartbeatReceiver")
 
-  /**
-   * Child name URL encoded target address.
-   */
-  def encodeChildName(name: String): String = URLEncoder.encode(name, "UTF-8")
-
   def receive = {
+    case HeartbeatTick              ⇒ heartbeat()
     case state: CurrentClusterState ⇒ init(state)
     case MemberUnreachable(m)       ⇒ removeMember(m)
     case MemberRemoved(m)           ⇒ removeMember(m)
     case e: MemberEvent             ⇒ addMember(e.member)
-    case JoinInProgress(a, d)       ⇒ joinInProgress += (a -> d)
+    case JoinInProgress(a, d)       ⇒ addJoinInProgress(a, d)
-    case HeartbeatTick              ⇒ heartbeat()
   }
 
   def init(state: CurrentClusterState): Unit = {
-    nodes = state.members.map(_.address)
+    all = state.members.collect { case m if m.address != selfAddress ⇒ m.address }
-    joinInProgress --= nodes
+    joinInProgress --= all
+    consistentHash = ConsistentHash(all, HeartbeatConsistentHashingVirtualNodesFactor)
   }
 
-  def addMember(m: Member): Unit = {
+  def addMember(m: Member): Unit = if (m.address != selfAddress) {
-    nodes += m.address
+    all += m.address
-    joinInProgress -= m.address
+    consistentHash = consistentHash :+ m.address
+    removeJoinInProgress(m.address)
+    update()
   }
 
-  def removeMember(m: Member): Unit = {
+  def removeMember(m: Member): Unit = if (m.address != selfAddress) {
-    nodes -= m.address
+    all -= m.address
-    joinInProgress -= m.address
+    consistentHash = consistentHash :- m.address
+    removeJoinInProgress(m.address)
+    update()
+  }
+
+  def removeJoinInProgress(address: Address): Unit = if (joinInProgress contains address) {
+    joinInProgress -= address
+    ending += (address -> 0)
+  }
+
+  def addJoinInProgress(address: Address, deadline: Deadline): Unit = {
+    if (address != selfAddress && !all.contains(address))
+      joinInProgress += (address -> deadline)
   }
 
   def heartbeat(): Unit = {
     removeOverdueJoinInProgress()
 
-    val beatTo = nodes ++ joinInProgress.keys
+    def connection(to: Address): ActorRef = {
-
+      // URL encoded target address as child actor name
-    val deadline = Deadline.now + HeartbeatInterval
+      val connectionName = URLEncoder.encode(to.toString, "UTF-8")
-    for (to ← beatTo; if to != selfAddress) {
+      context.actorFor(connectionName) match {
-      val workerName = encodeChildName(to.toString)
-      val worker = context.actorFor(workerName) match {
         case notFound if notFound.isTerminated ⇒
-          context.actorOf(Props(new ClusterHeartbeatSenderWorker(clusterHeartbeatConnectionFor(to))), workerName)
+          context.actorOf(Props(new ClusterHeartbeatSenderConnection(clusterHeartbeatConnectionFor(to))), connectionName)
         case child ⇒ child
       }
-      worker ! SendHeartbeat(selfHeartbeat, to, deadline)
+    }
+
+    val deadline = Deadline.now + HeartbeatInterval
+    (current ++ joinInProgress.keys) foreach { to ⇒ connection(to) ! SendHeartbeat(selfHeartbeat, to, deadline) }
+
+    // When sending heartbeats to a node is stopped a few `EndHeartbeat` messages is
+    // sent to notify it that no more heartbeats will be sent.
+    for ((to, count) ← ending) {
+      val c = connection(to)
+      c ! SendEndHeartbeat(selfEndHeartbeat, to)
+      if (count == NumberOfEndHeartbeats) {
+        ending -= to
+        c ! PoisonPill
+      } else {
+        ending += (to -> (count + 1))
+      }
     }
   }
 
   /**
-   * Removes overdue joinInProgress from State.
+   * Update current peers to send heartbeats to, and
+   * keep track of which nodes to stop sending heartbeats to.
+   */
+  def update(): Unit = {
+    val previous = current
+    current = selectPeers
+    // start ending process for nodes not selected any more
+    ending ++= (previous -- current).map(_ -> 0)
+    // abort ending process for nodes that have been selected again
+    ending --= current
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Select a few peers that heartbeats will be sent to, i.e. that will
+   * monitor this node. Try to send heartbeats to same nodes as much
+   * as possible, but re-balance with consistent hashing algorithm when
+   * new members are added or removed.
+   */
+  def selectPeers: Set[Address] = {
+    val allSize = all.size
+    val nrOfPeers = math.min(allSize, MonitoredByNrOfMembers)
+    // try more if consistentHash results in same node as already selected
+    val attemptLimit = nrOfPeers * 2
+    @tailrec def select(acc: Set[Address], n: Int): Set[Address] = {
+      if (acc.size == nrOfPeers || n == attemptLimit) acc
+      else select(acc + consistentHash.nodeFor(selfAddressStr + n), n + 1)
+    }
+    if (nrOfPeers >= allSize) all
+    else select(Set.empty[Address], 0)
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Cleanup overdue joinInProgress, in case a joining node never
+   * became member, for some reason.
    */
   def removeOverdueJoinInProgress(): Unit = {
-    joinInProgress --= joinInProgress collect { case (address, deadline) if (nodes contains address) || deadline.isOverdue ⇒ address }
+    val overdue = joinInProgress collect { case (address, deadline) if deadline.isOverdue ⇒ address }
+    if (overdue.nonEmpty) {
+      log.info("Overdue join in progress [{}]", overdue.mkString(", "))
+      ending ++= overdue.map(_ -> 0)
+      joinInProgress --= overdue
+    }
   }
 
 }
 
 /**
- * Responsible for sending [[akka.cluster.Heartbeat]] to one specific address.
+ * INTERNAL API
+ */
+private[cluster] object ClusterHeartbeatSenderConnection {
+  import ClusterHeartbeatReceiver._
+
+  /**
+   * Command to [akka.cluster.ClusterHeartbeatSenderConnection]], which will send
+   * [[akka.cluster.ClusterHeartbeatReceiver.Heartbeat]] to the other node.
+   * Local only, no need to serialize.
+   */
+  case class SendHeartbeat(heartbeatMsg: Heartbeat, to: Address, deadline: Deadline)
+
+  /**
+   * Command to [akka.cluster.ClusterHeartbeatSenderConnection]], which will send
+   * [[akka.cluster.ClusterHeartbeatReceiver.EndHeartbeat]] to the other node.
+   * Local only, no need to serialize.
+   */
+  case class SendEndHeartbeat(endHeartbeatMsg: EndHeartbeat, to: Address)
+}
+
+/**
+ * Responsible for sending [[akka.cluster.ClusterHeartbeatReceiver.Heartbeat]]
+ * and [[akka.cluster.ClusterHeartbeatReceiver.EndHeartbeat]] to one specific address.
  *
  * Netty blocks when sending to broken connections, and this actor uses
  * a configurable circuit breaker to reduce connect attempts to broken
@@ -163,10 +265,10 @@ private[cluster] final class ClusterHeartbeatSender extends Actor with ActorLogg
  *
  * @see ClusterHeartbeatSender
  */
-private[cluster] final class ClusterHeartbeatSenderWorker(toRef: ActorRef)
+private[cluster] final class ClusterHeartbeatSenderConnection(toRef: ActorRef)
   extends Actor with ActorLogging {
 
-  import ClusterHeartbeatSender._
+  import ClusterHeartbeatSenderConnection._
 
   val breaker = {
     val cbSettings = Cluster(context.system).settings.SendCircuitBreakerSettings
@@ -177,21 +279,19 @@ private[cluster] final class ClusterHeartbeatSenderWorker(toRef: ActorRef)
       onClose(log.debug("CircuitBreaker Closed for [{}]", toRef))
   }
 
-  // make sure it will cleanup when not used any more
-  context.setReceiveTimeout(30 seconds)
-
   def receive = {
     case SendHeartbeat(heartbeatMsg, _, deadline) ⇒
       if (!deadline.isOverdue) {
+        log.debug("Cluster Node [{}] - Heartbeat to [{}]", heartbeatMsg.from, toRef)
         // the CircuitBreaker will measure elapsed time and open if too many long calls
         try breaker.withSyncCircuitBreaker {
-          log.debug("Cluster Node [{}] - Heartbeat to [{}]", heartbeatMsg.from, toRef)
           toRef ! heartbeatMsg
-          if (deadline.isOverdue) log.debug("Sending heartbeat to [{}] took longer than expected", toRef)
         } catch { case e: CircuitBreakerOpenException ⇒ /* skip sending heartbeat to broken connection */ }
       }
-
+      if (deadline.isOverdue) log.debug("Sending heartbeat to [{}] took longer than expected", toRef)
-    case ReceiveTimeout ⇒ context.stop(self) // cleanup when not used
+    case SendEndHeartbeat(endHeartbeatMsg, _) ⇒
-
+      log.debug("Cluster Node [{}] - EndHeartbeat to [{}]", endHeartbeatMsg.from, toRef)
+      toRef ! endHeartbeatMsg
   }
+
 }

akka-cluster/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterSettings.scala

@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ class ClusterSettings(val config: Config, val systemName: String) {
   final val FailureDetectorAcceptableHeartbeatPause: FiniteDuration =
     Duration(getMilliseconds("akka.cluster.failure-detector.acceptable-heartbeat-pause"), MILLISECONDS)
   final val HeartbeatInterval: FiniteDuration = Duration(getMilliseconds("akka.cluster.failure-detector.heartbeat-interval"), MILLISECONDS)
+  final val HeartbeatConsistentHashingVirtualNodesFactor = 10 // no need for configuration
+  final val NumberOfEndHeartbeats: Int = (FailureDetectorAcceptableHeartbeatPause / HeartbeatInterval + 1).toInt
+  final val MonitoredByNrOfMembers = getInt("akka.cluster.failure-detector.monitored-by-nr-of-members")
 
   final val SeedNodes: IndexedSeq[Address] = getStringList("akka.cluster.seed-nodes").asScala.map {
     case AddressFromURIString(addr) ⇒ addr

akka-cluster/src/multi-jvm/scala/akka/cluster/LargeClusterSpec.scala

@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ object LargeClusterMultiJvmSpec extends MultiNodeConfig {
       gossip-interval = 500 ms
       auto-join = off
       auto-down = on
-      failure-detector.acceptable-heartbeat-pause = 10s
+      failure-detector.acceptable-heartbeat-pause = 5s
       publish-stats-interval = 0 s # always, when it happens
     }
     akka.event-handlers = ["akka.testkit.TestEventListener"]
@@ -57,7 +57,9 @@ object LargeClusterMultiJvmSpec extends MultiNodeConfig {
     akka.scheduler.tick-duration = 33 ms
     akka.remote.log-remote-lifecycle-events = off
     akka.remote.netty.execution-pool-size = 4
-    #akka.remote.netty.reconnection-time-window = 1s
+    #akka.remote.netty.reconnection-time-window = 10s
+    akka.remote.netty.read-timeout = 5s
+    akka.remote.netty.write-timeout = 5s
     akka.remote.netty.backoff-timeout = 500ms
     akka.remote.netty.connection-timeout = 500ms
 

akka-cluster/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterConfigSpec.scala

@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ class ClusterConfigSpec extends AkkaSpec {
       PeriodicTasksInitialDelay must be(1 seconds)
       GossipInterval must be(1 second)
       HeartbeatInterval must be(1 second)
+      NumberOfEndHeartbeats must be(4)
+      MonitoredByNrOfMembers must be(5)
       LeaderActionsInterval must be(1 second)
       UnreachableNodesReaperInterval must be(1 second)
       PublishStatsInterval must be(10 second)