Patent ID: 8117488

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising steps of: a first server instance, in a cluster of server instances, detecting that a problem event, from a specified set of problem events, is occurring relative to an operation that the first server instance is attempting to perform; in response to detecting that the problem event is occurring, the first server instance broadcasting, to one or more other server instances in the cluster, first information that indicates characteristics of the problem event; the first server instance receiving, from a second server instance in the cluster, second information that indicates characteristics of the problem event; and based at least in part on the second information received from the second server instance, the first server instance selecting an action from a set of actions; and the first server instance performing the action; wherein the set of actions comprises (a) a first action that includes terminating execution of the first server instance and (b) a second action that includes waiting for a specified amount of time, but excludes terminating execution of the first server instance; wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.