The Problem: Traditional Transaction Models

To understand the transaction problem in distributed systems, we first need to see where it came from. We start with the traditional transaction models that monolithic applications relied on.

Traditional Transaction Models

In monolithic systems, transactions were simple. Recall the e-commerce checkout example we discussed earlier. In a monolithic application, this transaction would usually be handled using ACID transactions. ACID, standing for Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability, is a set of properties that guarantee that database transactions are processed reliably.