Patent ID: 7389293

Claim:
A method for remastering resources, the method comprising: determining a utilization of a first node that is executing a first database server that has been designated to be a master for one or more resources; wherein the one or more resources are disk blocks of a database; wherein the first database server is one of a plurality of database servers that have access to the disk blocks of the database; wherein the first database server, as the master of the one or more resources, maintains lock information that indicates locks that have been granted, by the first database server, to access the one or more resources; and based on the utilization, designating a second database server, executing on a node other than the first node, to be a master for the one or more resources, so that the first database server is no longer designated to be a master for the one or more resources; wherein the step of designating comprises: selecting a particular database object from among one or more database objects that are at least partially stored within one or more data blocks for which the first database server is designated to be a master; and for each particular data block that is mastered by the first database server and that stores at least a portion of the particular database object: (a) selecting a particular node other than the first node, and (b) designating the master of the particular data block to be a database server executing on the particular node instead of the first database server; wherein the step of selecting the particular database object comprises: determining a first frequency at which requests for data blocks that store portions of the particular database object are received from nodes other than the first node; determining a second frequency at which data blocks that store portions of the particular database object are accessed by a database server residing on the first node; determining whether a ratio of the first frequency to the second frequency exceeds a specified threshold; and in response to determining that the ratio exceeds the specified threshold, selecting the particular database object from among the one or more database objects.