Patent ID: 8751639

Claim:
An event distribution system, the system comprising: a server configured to respond to event requests via a synchronous client-server protocol, the server further including: a backing store configured to store an event associated with a first channel identifier and to allow subsequent retrieval of the event using the first channel identifier, wherein the event is associated with an event identifier; a communications module operable to receive event requests and send responses, wherein the communications module receives from a client an event request including a last seen event identifier that indicates a most recent event consumed by the client; an event filtering system operable to identify a number of clients active on the first channel identifier and further to evaluate, modify, and block event requests and responses, wherein the event filtering system modifies one or more event requests based on the number of clients active on the first channel identifier, and wherein the event filtering system sends a response including all events that have occurred in the first channel since the event associated with the last seen event identifier; and an event manager coordinating the use of the backing store, communications module, and event filtering system; wherein the event requests represent interactions with a distributed file system storage system.