Patent ID: 7788223

Claim:
A computer-storage medium having computer executable instructions, comprising: detecting whether local resources stored within a first folder and hosted on a local machine are stale via a first timestamp associated with the first folder, the local machine also storing local resources within a second folder having an associated second timestamp different from the first timestamp, wherein the first timestamp includes a time of a previous synchronization of the local resources within the first folder, wherein the previous synchronization comprised applying updates to the local resources within the first folder received from an upstream partner, wherein the local machine and the upstream partner participate in a replica group, and wherein the first timestamp is updated only upon synchronization of the local resources within the first folder, the synchronization of the local resources occurring at an update frequency; wherein the detecting further comprises: determining a difference between the first timestamp and a local system clock; and comparing the difference to a staleness value to determine whether the difference exceeds the staleness value, wherein the staleness value is greater than the update frequency and less than or equal to a tombstone period that indicates how long a resource is marked as deleted before resource metadata associated with the resource is deleted; when the local resources are stale, refraining from sending updates of the local resources from the local machine to a downstream partner; and when the local resources are not stale, sending updates of the local resources from the local resources to the downstream partner.