Patent ID: 7917646
Filing Date: 2011-03-29
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: transmitting, from a first peer node to a plurality of nodes of a multi-node system, a first data request message to request a copy of a block of data, wherein the plurality of nodes having peer nodes including the first peer node and a second peer node, wherein the plurality of nodes further having a home node that stores the block of data in a non-cache memory; transmitting, from the second peer node to the plurality of nodes, a second data request message to request a copy of the block of data; determining a conflict between the first data request message and the second data request message corresponding to the first and second peer nodes, respectively, wherein the first and second peer nodes are regarded as conflicting nodes; reporting the conflict to the home node, the home node to prepare conflict reports and issue forwarding instructions to assure each of the first and second peer nodes receive the requested copy of the block of data; providing a copy of the block data from the home node if none of the peer nodes stores a sharable copy of the block data; and providing a copy of the block data from a peer node storing a copy of the block data in a forward state, wherein only one of multiple copies of the block data stored by multiple peer nodes is designated in the forward state as a single cached copy of the block of data to be used to respond to the first and second data request messages.