Introduction

The Bulkhead pattern is a strategy used in the design of distributed systems to prevent failures from propagating across different parts of the system. The name "bulkhead" is inspired by a nautical term. On a ship, bulkheads are compartments designed to contain water in case of a hull breach. If water enters one compartment, the bulkhead prevents it from flooding the entire ship, hence limiting the damage.

How does this concept relate to distributed systems? In a distributed system, a bulkhead is a way to isolate parts of the system from each other