Linearizability makes each read appear atomic and orders reads according to when they occur in real life. In ScyllaDB, SERIAL consistency uses Paxos to read the latest value, but its stronger guarantee costs more. section 8.2.2
The consistency choices create practical trade-offs:
- SERIAL consistency uses a majority of replicas and Paxos to enforce read ordering. section 8.2.2
- QUORUM consistency for both writes and reads can provide the latest value without an LWT-based read. section 8.2.2
Choosing a read guarantee
Use SERIAL when a read must reflect the latest value and its Paxos cost is acceptable. Otherwise, pair QUORUM writes with QUORUM reads to avoid stale results through replica majority.
