Paxos Explained from Scratch [pdf]

Happy to see my thesis advisor's paper on the HN front page! This paper really helped me when I was implementing a simplified version of Paxos using OpenFlow.

I also remember Hein recommended me to study Paxos before delving into Raft, actually, even though Raft is supposedly easier to get started with.

This is a good resource.

If you feel like watching a presentation I recommend Joseph Blomsted's talk on developing Riak Ensemble module.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITstwAQYYag

That is a module that added consistency to an otherwise AP system.

They did it using Paxos and it was interesting because it was during the time when everyone was implementing consensus using Raft and there was, perhaps undeserved, FUD regarding Paxos during those times.

He explains how Paxos is not that bad in certain situations -- such as agreeing on a value (instead of say replicating a log). And then how it was like implementing it in practice.

These guys also made a slide deck for the paper: http://www.ux.uis.no/~meling/papers/PaxosTutorial-Meling-OPO...