Patent ID: 8671218

Claim:
A method for managing a two-node cluster comprising a first server node and a second server node, comprising: sending, by the first server node comprising a first copy of a virtual storage pool, a first heartbeat; sending, by the second server node comprising a second copy of the virtual storage pool, a second heartbeat; determining, by the first server node and in response to not receiving the second heartbeat from the second server node, that the second server node is disconnected from the two-node cluster; sending, by the first server node and in response to determining that the second server node is disconnected, a first echo request from to a first external system, wherein the first external system is specified on the first server node and the second server node of the two-node cluster; sending, by the second server node and in response to not receiving the first heartbeat from the first server node, a second echo request to the first external system; receiving, by the first server node, a first echo response for the first echo request from the first external system, wherein the first echo response indicates that the first server node is a winner and the second server node is a loser in a tie-break mechanism; halting, by the second server node and in response to not receiving a second echo response from the first external system after sending the second echo request, cluster services offered by the second server node; and providing, by the first server node and in response to receiving the first echo response, services of the two-node cluster independent of the second server node.