Patent ID: 8108712

Claim:
An apparatus for selecting a computer to remove from a computer cluster, wherein the computer cluster comprises a plurality of computers, the apparatus comprising: a memory storing, a quorum protocol module that selects a computer to remove from the cluster based on a defined set of quorum rules; and a health module for monitoring health data of each of the plurality of computers, the health module comprising: a messaging module that forms, transmits, and receives health messages containing health data, a fatal timeout module that provides a fatal timeout corresponding to a first time period within which health data is not received from any one computer in the cluster, a health timeout module that provides a health timeout calculated as a fraction of the fatal timeout, wherein on occurrence of the health timeout, upon not receiving health data from any other computer, a first health score is recorded as a poor health score for the other computer and, upon receiving health data from any other computer, the first health score is recorded as a good health score for the other computer, a health processing module that calculates a second health score, based on the first health score, for each of the plurality of computers upon the occurrence of the fatal timeout, and a selection module that selects a computer for removal from the cluster based on calculated second health scores; and a processor to implement the quorum protocol module and health module in the memory.