Patent ID: 6912668

Claim:
A controller device for use in a data storage network having one or more redundancy groups; the controller device comprising: a first array management function (AMF) that provides access to a first redundancy group in the data storage network; and a communication port for coupling to the network, wherein the first AMF is able to communicate over the network with the first redundancy group and one or more other AMFs in the network that concurrently share access to the first redundancy group; wherein when the first AMF desires to perform an operation on a first resource in the first redundancy group, the first AMF arbitrates with the one or more other AMFs that share access to the first redundancy group for a lock on the first resource, whereupon the first AMF performs the operation on the first resource and concurrently sends replication data and state information associated with the first resource to the other AMFs such that if the first AMF fails while performing the operation, one of the other AMFs is able to complete the operation.