Patent ID: 8103642

Claim:
A method for managing lock requests in a multi-node database system, the method comprising the steps of: a requesting node, of the multi-node database system, transmitting, to another node of the multi-node database system, a message representing a request for a lock on a resource; and wherein each node of the multi-node database system has access to a set of shared resources managed by the multi-node database system; wherein the resource is in the set of shared resources; as a response to transmitting the message, the requesting node receiving, from another node in the multi-node database system: an acknowledgement that a lock on a group of resources that includes the resource is granted to the requesting node, and a mapping that indicates that one or more resources of the group of resources are locked by one or more nodes in the multi-node database system other than the requesting node; while the requesting node is granted the lock on the group of resources, the requesting node retaining the mapping that indicates that the one or more resources of the group of resources are locked by the one or more nodes in the multi-node database system other than the requesting node.