Patent ID: 7428210

Claim:
A fail over method which is used for a system including a cluster comprised of a plurality of nodes and in which, when a trouble occurs in one of the plurality of nodes, a processing of the troubled node is taken over to another node, comprising the steps of: causing the plurality of nodes to monitor operation states of one another; detecting an occurrence of a trouble based on a result of the monitoring; causing, when the occurrence of the trouble is detected, each node in the cluster, except for the troubled node, to read taking-over information prestored in a shared storage system for taking over processings of the troubled node to another node; causing each node in the cluster, except for the troubled node, to take over the processing of the troubled node based on the taking-over information; obtaining a load on each node in the cluster; and generating the taking-over information based on the obtained load when the trouble occurs in one of the plurality of nodes; wherein the step of generating the taking-over information further comprises the steps of: setting an upper limit of a number of taking-over times for each node processing; and selecting, by a management node which manages the plurality of nodes, a processing taken over to each node in the cluster, except for the troubled node, based on a current number of taking-over times and the upper limit of the number of taking-over times.