Hello, The current trunk limit the value of phi_convict_threshold from 5 to 16 in DatabaseDescriptor.java. And phi value is calculated in FailureDetector.java as
PHI_FACTOR x time_since_last_gossip / mean_heartbeat_interval And the PHI_FACTOR is a predefined value: PHI_FACTOR = 1 / Log(10) =~ 0.43 So if you use default phi_convict_threshold = 8, it means FailureDetector wait for 8 / 0.43 = 18.6 times of "missing heartbeats" before it detects node failure. Even if you set the minimum value 5, it needs 5 / 0.43 = 11.6 heartbeat miss for failure detection. I think it is a bit much for cassandra ring which build on reliable network in single datacenter. If DatabaseDescriptor.java will accepts smaller phi_convict_threshold, we will be able to configure cassandra to detect failure rapidly ( or shoot my foot ). Anyway, I can't find any reason to limit minimum value of phi_convict_threshold to 5. maki
