Patent ID: 8250137

Claim:
A method, comprising: indicating to one or more remote systems in a distributed system that a task is available for processing based on a distribution list; receiving at least one response from said one or more remote systems capable of performing the task responsive to the indication, said response comprising a request for a resource for performing said task, wherein the task is performed upon task information, and wherein the resource is information, other than the task information, used to perform the task; providing said resource for performing said task to said at least one of said remote systems; prompting at least the requesting remote system to perform the task in response to providing the resource; receiving data relating to the resource used to perform said task; determining, based upon the received data relating to the resource used to perform said task, whether the resource used to perform the task was a proper resource based at least upon a checksum received from at least the requesting remote system; and indicating to the one or more remote systems, in response to determining that proper resources were not used to perform the task, that the task is available for processing.