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docs: clarify definition of network health (XRPLF#4729)
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Update the documentation to describe network health with more nuance as
well as context about related factors.
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mtrippled authored and sophiax851 committed Jun 12, 2024
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26 changes: 21 additions & 5 deletions src/ripple/app/misc/FeeEscalation.md
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Expand Up @@ -190,11 +190,27 @@ lower) fee to get into the same position as a reference transaction.

### Consensus Health

For consensus to be considered healthy, the consensus process must take
less than 5 seconds. This time limit was chosen based on observed past
behavior of the network. Note that this is not necessarily the time between
ledger closings, as consensus usually starts some amount of time after
a ledger opens.
For consensus to be considered healthy, the peers on the network
should largely remain in sync with one another. It is particularly
important for the validators to remain in sync, because that is required
for participation in consensus. However, the network tolerates some
validators being out of sync. Fundamentally, network health is a
function of validators reaching consensus on sets of recently submitted
transactions.

Another factor to consider is
the duration of the consensus process itself. This generally takes
under 5 seconds on the main network under low volume. This is based on
historical observations. However factors such as transaction volume
can increase consensus duration. This is because rippled performs
more work as transaction volume increases. Under sufficient load this
tends to increase consensus duration. It's possible that relatively high
consensus duration indicates a problem, but it is not appropriate to
conclude so without investigation. The upper limit for consensus
duration should be roughly 20 seconds. That is far above the normal.
If the network takes this long to close ledgers, then it is almost
certain that there is a problem with the network. This circumstance
often coincides with new ledgers with zero transactions.

### Other Constants

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