Patent ID: 7587465

Claim:
A method for configuring nodes as masters or slaves, wherein the nodes are connected by one or more networks, the method comprising: initiating, by a first node, a state machine for supporting communications over the one or more networks between the first node and one or more other nodes, wherein the communications relate to executing an application instance in a master-slave configuration, the application instance being one of a plurality of application instances, each application instance having an additional state machine and each of the plurality of application instances managed by the first node through the use of the state machine for supporting communication over one or more networks to manage a state of each additional state machine associated with each of the application instances; determining whether the first node is a predetermined permanent master of the application instance, wherein the predetermined permanent master is a node which will force any other node that is currently a master of the application instance to quit; entering a master state for the application instance if the first node is the predetermined permanent master; determining whether a problem exists with the first node acting as the master for the application instance; and if the problem exists, resigning as the master of the application instance, the resigning comprising sending a Resignation message to a second node that is designated as a preferred slave, wherein the preferred slave is a node that is first to be given an opportunity to take over as the master, and the preferred slave is a node from which the first node most recently received a Heartbeat message.