Securing Erlang Distribution Protocol in Large-Scale WhatsApp Clusters

60
clicks
Securing Erlang Distribution Protocol in Large-Scale WhatsApp Clusters

Source: youtube.com

Type: Video

Andrew Bennett delivered a presentation on the intricacies of handling one of the largest Erlang/OTP clusters used by WhatsApp. The talk emphasized the Erlang Distribution Protocol, which is essential for communication between Erlang and Elixir nodes but originally lacked inherent security. This can pose risks in extensive networks like WhatsApp, where a massive growth in server quantity magnifies the consequence of an unintentional mistake, causing widespread outages. To mitigate this risk, Bennett introduced 'erldist_filter_nif', a Native Implemented Function created to decode distribution packets and control their flow, thereby minimizing the blast radius of operations within the cluster. Additionally, Bennett discussed the launch of WhatsApp's Runtime System (WARTS), a friendly fork of OTP, focusing on performance, security, and tooling enhancements for Linux, with some support for macOS.

© HashMerge 2024