Patent ID: 6965893

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for managing access to a resource that is accessible to a plurality of entities, the method comprising the steps of: for each entity of said plurality of entities, maintaining, local to said entity, data that indicates whether any other entity of said plurality of entities has an exclusive lock on said resource; for each entity of said plurality of entities that seeks to acquire a shared lock on said resource, performing the steps of: checking the data that is local to the entity; if the data indicates that an exclusive lock has not been granted to any of the other entities of said plurality of entities, then the entity acquiring said shared lock without receiving a lock grant from a resource master of said resource; and if the data indicates that an exclusive lock has been granted to any of the other entities of the plurality of entities, then the entity acquiring said shared lock only after said exclusive lock is released by the entity that has been holding said exclusive lock.