Patent ID: 7661015

Claim:
A computer implemented system, for providing scheduling of jobs within a cluster, comprising: a cluster which includes a plurality of application servers; a job scheduler that accents jobs to be executed by the cluster at scheduled times; a timer master provided as a singleton service within the cluster, wherein the timer master is used within the cluster to assign scheduled jobs to application servers within the cluster, and wherein the scheduled jobs are scheduled to start on assigned application servers at the scheduled times; a lease table that records which of the application servers within the cluster is currently maintaining a lease for, and acting as, the timer master for the cluster; a database for persistently storing job information so that the job information can be shared by all of the application servers within the cluster; wherein the application servers periodically poll the timer master for jobs to execute, and wherein in response to being polled, the timer master assigns a portion of the scheduled jobs to the polling application server, to be executed by that polling application server; and wherein, in the event of a failure of the application server currently acting as the timer master, as determined by the current timer master failing to renew its lease, another of the application servers within the cluster is selected to act as the timer master, and use the job information stored in the database to continue to assign scheduled jobs within the cluster.