A deadlock occurs when two processes try to use the same resources, causing both to become blocked. To resolve this, a database server can terminate the connection of one user, known as the deadlock victim. The victim is typically chosen based on ease of reconnection or data loss. Deadlocks are a nuisance and indicate errors in the server’s programming.
A deadlock victim is a computer user, acting as a client connected to a server, whose connection the server host chose to terminate in order to resolve a deadlock. This type of deadlock often occurs when two different processes try to use the same resources, causing both processes to become blocked. To address this problem, many database server systems can detect when a deadlock occurs and then choose to terminate the connection of either process. A deadlock victim can be chosen arbitrarily by the program, although the user is typically chosen as the one who can most easily reconnect to the system.
The term “deadlock victim” is typically used in the error or exception message that the system displays to the user when his connection is dropped. This error occurs in a situation commonly referred to as a deadlock. In general, a deadlock occurs when two users connected to a server attempt to access the same resources in a way that creates a lock on the system. For example, if user A uses resource 1 and must also use resource 2, while user B uses resource 2 and must also use resource 1, a deadlock occurs because neither user can complete their process.
In this example, one of the two users would be chosen by the system as a deadlock victim and his connection to the server would be dropped. Once this occurs, the other user can terminate their process, ending the deadlock, and the deadlock victim can reconnect to the server. Most database server programs are designed with deadlock detection, which usually detects a deadlock after a certain amount of time. While a deadlock isn’t necessarily a serious problem, it can be a nuisance to users, especially those targeted as victims of the deadlock, and it indicates one or more errors in the server’s database programming.
How a server chooses a deadlock victim can vary. Some programs choose the victim purely randomly. While this can be quite effective, as any choice leads to a solution and an end to the deadlock, this is not always an ideal method. A server is typically programmed to evaluate two users to choose whichever could reconnect more easily or which will lose the least amount of data due to disconnection.
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