Patent ID: 7870226

Claim:
A method, comprising: maintaining by each of a plurality of data processing nodes, a local information file having information on individual data processing operations of the data processing node maintaining the local information, one local information file for each of the data processing nodes with which the data processing node communicates having information on individual operations of the data processing node for which the local information file is maintained, and a global information file having information associated with collective operations of the data processing nodes; generating or acquiring, by a requester data processing node comprising one of the data processing nodes, local update information within the local information file for the requester data processing node, wherein the local update information concerns the individual data processing operation of the requester data processing node; synchronizing, by the requester data processing node, an update of the local update information to the local information files for the requester data processing node at target data processing nodes comprising the nodes with which the requester data processing node communicates, wherein the local information files for the requester data processing node at the target data processing nodes include information on the individual operations of the requester data processing node with the local update information generated by the requester data processing node; detecting, by the requester data processing node, global update information within the requester data processing global information file concerning a collective operation of the requester and the target data processing nodes; synchronizing, by the requester data processing node, the global update information with the global information files at the target data processing nodes, wherein each of the data processing nodes functions as the requester data processing node and the target data processing node for purposes of synchronizing local update and global update information.