Distributed transactions: What, why, and how to build a distributed transactional application

The article by Charlie Custer explores the concept of distributed transactions in databases, detailing their importance for modern applications that require horizontal scalability, high availability, and fault tolerance. It explains that while distributed transactions enable databases to operate across multiple nodes and regions, they introduce challenges such as ensuring consistency. The text describes various patterns to manage distributed transactions, including the two-phase commit pattern, active-passive replicas, and multi-active distributed transactions, highlighting their advantages and trade-offs. In particular, it emphasizes the benefits of a multi-active system, as exemplified by CockroachDB, which offers easy scaling and fault tolerance without compromising consistency. The article also notes the complexity of implementing such systems from scratch, recommending adopting purpose-built solutions like CockroachDB for applications needing advanced distributed capabilities.