Patent ID: 7966524

Claim:
A method for gathering and selectively synchronizing state information of at least one machine, comprising: (a) generating, by a first machine, a query identifying (i) a plurality of metrics characterizing a state of a second machine, (ii) a filter for identifying a subset of the plurality of metrics for inclusion in a response to the query, and (iii) at least one criterion identifying a circumstance in which to respond to the query, the filter and the at least one criterion specified using an expressive language, the filter comprising a fallback action for the second machine to take if the second machine does not support a portion of the expressive language used to specify the filter; (b) determining, by an agent on the second machine, whether to respond to the query, responsive to the at least one criterion in the query; and (c) transmitting, by the second machine, to the first machine, a response including at least a portion of the subset of the plurality of metrics, responsive to the determination.