Patent ID: 7761418

Claim:
A method of managing data within a distributed data storage system, the distributed data storage system comprising a plurality of data processing units connected with each other via a network, at least one of the data processing units having an information object stored thereon, the information object including a data element and an executable code unit, the executable code unit being arranged to automatically cause a data processing unit at which the information object is received to execute the code unit, the method comprising: in response to receiving the information object, including the data element and the executable code unit, at a first one of the data processing units, automatically executing the received executable code unit by the first data processing unit; execution of the received code unit causing the first data processing unit to send, via the network, data associated with the information object to a second data processing unit at which a data log is stored, the associated data identifying the received information object and the first data processing unit; and updating the data log by the second data processing unit in response to receiving the associated data at the second data processing unit, whereby other data processing units within the distributed data storage system that access the updated data log are aware of the availability of the information object at the first data processing unit.