Patent ID: 7769713

Claim:
A system comprising: a plurality of host computers coupled via a network, wherein the host computers are configured to communicate with a coordinator that coordinates write access to a storage volume, and wherein each host computer of the plurality of host computers stores a respective log; wherein a first host computer of the plurality of host computers is configured to: receive from a first application a write request to write data to the storage volume; in response to the write request, send a request to the coordinator for permission to write to the storage volume; in response to the write request, initiate logging of the data to a first log, wherein the logging is initiated prior to receiving the permission to write to the storage volume; receive a response from the coordinator indicating permission to write to the storage volume; receive from a second application a read request to read data from the storage volume; in response to the read request, request the coordinator to indicate whether a portion of the storage volume targeted by the read request is currently being written to; and read data from a second log stored by a second host computer of the plurality of host computers to satisfy the read request in response to receiving a reply from the coordinator indicating that the portion of the storage volume targeted by the read request is currently being written to.