Key Terminology:

A consensus algorithm is a process in computer science used to achieve agreement on a single data value among distributed processes or systems. Consensus algorithms are designed to achieve reliability in a network involving multiple unreliable nodes. Solving that issue – known as the consensus problem – is important in distributed computing and multi-agent systems.

Consensus, as an algorithm

An algorithm to achieve agreement on a block among peers in the network. By having it in the system, reliability is increased.

Preserves consistent state among the peers within a peer network. Iroha uses own consensus algorithm called Yet Another Consensus (aka YAC). Distinctive features of this algorithm are its scalability, performance, and Byzantine fault tolerance. If there are missing blocks, they will be downloaded from another peer via Synchronizer. Committed blocks are stored in Ametsuchi block storage.