Distributed File System using Ricart-Agarwala Algorithm (Go)

A distributed file system simulator in Go that implements the Ricart-Agarwala mutual exclusion algorithm for coordinating access to shared files among multiple clients.

Features

• Implements Ricart-Agarwala mutual exclusion for distributed systems
• Concurrent read/write access to files by multiple clients
• Timestamp-based request ordering
• Acknowledgment system for request coordination
• Logging of all file operations in file_access.log

How It Works

• Each client that wants to access a file sends a timestamped request to all other clients.
• Clients acknowledge requests if they are not in their critical section or have lower priority.
• A client enters the critical section (reads/writes the file) only after receiving acknowledgments from all other clients.
• Operations are logged with timestamps for traceability.
• This simulates a distributed mutual exclusion system, ensuring that only one client writes to the file at a time, while coordinating reads/writes safely.

Components

File: Represents a file with content and a mutex lock.

DistributedFileSystem: Manages files, requests, timestamps, acknowledgments, and logs.

Client: Represents a client accessing the system.

Request: Represents a timestamped request for accessing a file.

Usage

Build the project

go build main.go

Run the program

./main

Enter the number of clients when prompted.
Observe the logs in file_access.log to see the order of access and acknowledgments.

Example Output:

Enter the number of clients: 3

Client 1 opened file file1.txt

Client 2 opened file file1.txt

Client 3 opened file file1.txt

Client 1 sent request to client 2

Client 1 sent request to client 3

Client 2 sent request to client 1

Client 3 sent request to client 1

Client 1 wrote to file file1.txt: Content written by Client 1

Client 1 read file file1.txt: Content written by Client 1

File file1.txt closed

Dependencies

Go 1.20+ (or latest stable version)
Standard Go libraries (sync, os, fmt, io/ioutil)

Notes

This is a simulated distributed system, all clients run locally.
The Ricart-Agarwala algorithm ensures mutual exclusion using timestamps and acknowledgments.
The log file helps visualize request ordering and file access coordination.