Patent ID: 7761431

Claim:
A method, comprising: storing in a memory of a first processor session information for each of a plurality of sessions comprising a cluster, wherein each session associates at least one primary system and at least one secondary system, wherein within each session, updates are copied from the at least one primary system to the at least one secondary system; processing the session information in the memory for the plurality of sessions to determine a most recent update time for each session indicated in the memory; generating first consolidated session information for the cluster comprising a minimum of the determined most recent update times based on the session information for the sessions in the cluster; and writing the first consolidated session information for the cluster to a master data set maintaining information for sessions, wherein the master data set is adapted to include information from coupled sessions associating at least one primary storage and at least one secondary storage that are managed by additional processors; reading, by the additional processors, the first consolidated session information in the master data set to determine the minimum of the most recent update times across all the coupled sessions indicated in the master data set to maintain data consistency across coupled sessions; determining a value of a state flag for each session indicated in the memory, wherein the state flag indicates whether the session is consistent with all other sessions represented in the master data set; performing an OR operation on the determined values to determine second consolidated session information for a first operation; and performing an AND operation on the determined values to determine third consolidated session information for a second operation.