Patent ID: 8527558

Claim:
A method for deleting data objects in a distributed computer system, the method comprising: creating, by a computer, a first data structure configured to store one or more object identifiers; creating, by the computer, a second data structure configured to store at least one object identifier and one or more references to objects; creating a copy of the second data structure; storing, by the computer, the one or more object identifiers in the first data structure, each object identifier of the one or more object identifiers representing a corresponding data object about to be created but not yet assigned any references from other data objects; identifying, within the copy of the second data structure, at least one first candidate object identifier representing at least one first candidate data object identified for deletion, at least one second candidate object identifier representing at least one second candidate data object identified for deletion and at least one third candidate object identifier representing at least one third candidate data object identified for deletion; determining the at least one first candidate data object is being used; in response to determining the at least one first candidate data object is being used, not deleting the at least one first candidate data object; determining the at least one second candidate object identifier is stored within the first data structure; in response to determining the at least one second candidate object identifier is stored within the first data structure, not deleting the at least one second candidate data object; and deleting the at least one third candidate data object.