Patent ID: 7231408

Claim:
A method for recovering data in a distributed system where the data is maintained in at least two databases, one of the databases being a master database and at least one other database being a slave database, and the data comprises at least one data element, the method comprising: initiating recovery of the data; calculating during the recovery a first total from the data in a first database and a second total from a corresponding data in a second database; comparing the first total with the second total; if the first total and the second total are the same, ending the recovery of the data; if the first total and the second total are not the same, the method further comprises during the recovery: a) dividing the data and the corresponding data into at least two smaller data groups according to a predetermined rule; b) calculating a third total for each data group in the first database and a fourth total for each corresponding data group in the second database; c) comparing for each data group the third total with the fourth total; and d) deducing on the basis of this comparison in which data group or data groups updating is needed.