A method for managing a node of a distributed system comprising a plurality of nodes (100A - 100N), the method comprising: identifying a failure of a second node of the plurality of nodes of the distributed system; in response to identifying the failure: making a first determination that the second node is a primary node of the distributed system; after making the first determination: identifying a new primary node of the plurality of nodes by accessing a copy of a distributed system configuration stored in one of a plurality of out-of-band management entities; and providing services of the distributed system to a client using computing resources of the node after identifying the new primary node, wherein each node of the distributed system hosts a corresponding out-of-band management entity separate from and operably connected to computing resources of respective nodes of the plurality of nodes, and wherein each of the out-of-band management entities stores a copy of the distributed system configuration for the distributed system. identifying a failure of a second node of the plurality of nodes of the distributed system; in response to identifying the failure: making a first determination that the second node is a primary node of the distributed system; after making the first determination: identifying a new primary node of the plurality of nodes by accessing a copy of a distributed system configuration stored in one of a plurality of out-of-band management entities; and providing services of the distributed system to a client using computing resources of the node after identifying the new primary node, wherein each node of the distributed system hosts a corresponding out-of-band management entity separate from and operably connected to computing resources of respective nodes of the plurality of nodes, and wherein each of the out-of-band management entities stores a copy of the distributed system configuration for the distributed system. making a first determination that the second node is a primary node of the distributed system; after making the first determination: identifying a new primary node of the plurality of nodes by accessing a copy of a distributed system configuration stored in one of a plurality of out-of-band management entities; and providing services of the distributed system to a client using computing resources of the node after identifying the new primary node, wherein each node of the distributed system hosts a corresponding out-of-band management entity separate from and operably connected to computing resources of respective nodes of the plurality of nodes, and wherein each of the out-of-band management entities stores a copy of the distributed system configuration for the distributed system. identifying a new primary node of the plurality of nodes by accessing a copy of a distributed system configuration stored in one of a plurality of out-of-band management entities; and providing services of the distributed system to a client using computing resources of the node after identifying the new primary node, wherein each node of the distributed system hosts a corresponding out-of-band management entity separate from and operably connected to computing resources of respective nodes of the plurality of nodes, and wherein each of the out-of-band management entities stores a copy of the distributed system configuration for the distributed system. <EOS>