Patent ID: 7107313

Claim:
A method of performing one or more of adding and removing a process in a distributed system having a plurality of processes currently operational therein, said method comprising steps of: (1) launching a probationary member in said distributed system; (2) establishing a plurality of communication paths between said probationary member and each of said plurality of processes, respectively, in said system; (3) evaluating at least one criterion for promoting said probationary member to a full member, based on information obtained from said probationary member by said each of said plurality of processes on said plurality of communication paths; and (4) based on the evaluation performed in step (3), replacing a first process in said system and promoting said probationary member to a full member in a single view change in which all processes in said system are notified of said first process being replaced and said probationary member being promoted, wherein at least two of said plurality of processes are performed on separate processors that communicate with each other over a computer network.