Patent ID: 7788522

Claim:
A network computing device for managing a cluster network, comprising: a processor; a memory for use in receiving and managing data and instructions that, when executed by the processor performs a method, the method comprising: examining a first view of the cluster network to identify a candidate master node for the cluster network based on a sorted order of cluster member identifiers within the first view; when the network computing device is identified as the candidate master node, sending an announcement to other cluster members of the cluster network indicating that the network computing device is a first asserted master node; and upon detecting a master collision, wherein the master collision indicates a second asserted master node: obtaining a first updated cluster view of the cluster network from each of the cluster members of the cluster network, coalescing the received updated cluster views to obtain a second view of the cluster network, sorting the cluster member identifiers within the second view of the cluster network to obtain a sorted second view of the cluster network, and identifying a master node based on the sorted second view of the cluster network.