Patent ID: 7769727

Claim:
A method for resolving conflicts, the method comprising: receiving an indication that an entity in a first replica was updated; receiving an indication that the entity in a second replica was deleted; receiving one of: an indication that the deletion of the entity was erroneous; and no indication that the deletion of the entity was erroneous; if no indication is received that the deletion of the entity was erroneous, deleting the entity from the first replica and the second replica; if an indication is received that the deletion of the entity was erroneous: resurrecting the entity in the second replica; requesting from the first replica the updated entity; replicating the updated entity in the first replica and the second replica; performing one of the steps of replicating and deleting in accordance with a conflict resolution policy; if the conflict resolution policy comprises resolving a conflict in favor of an update, performing the step of replicating; if the conflict resolution policy comprises resolving a conflict in favor of a deletion; performing the step of deleting; if the conflict resolution policy comprises resolving a conflict in favor of a remote replica: performing the step of deleting, if the first replica comprises the remote replica; and performing the step of replicating, if the second replica comprises the remote replica; if the conflict resolution policy comprises resolving a conflict in favor of a local replica: performing the step of deleting, if the first replica comprises the local replica; and performing the step of replicating, if the second replica comprises the local replica; and if the conflict resolution policy comprises resolving a conflict in accordance with a most recent occurrence of the update or the deletion: performing the step of deleting, if the deletion occurred more recently than the updated; and performing the step of replicating, if the update occurred more recently than the deletion.