Patent ID: 8244846

Claim:
A method comprising: determining locations of a plurality of resource identifiers in a resource identification space, wherein the determining is performed by a computer; dividing the resource identification space into a first plurality of disjoint areas of responsibility, wherein the dividing is performed by the computer; associating each area of responsibility with a distinct network node of a plurality of network nodes, wherein the associating is performed by the computer, each network node of the plurality of network nodes is a member of a cluster, and a sum of all the areas of responsibility encompasses the entire resource identification space; assigning management responsibility for a resource associated with a resource identifier located in a first area of responsibility to a network node associated with the first area of responsibility, wherein the assigning is performed by the computer, the resource is shared by the network nodes, and the assigning comprises distributing lock mastering responsibilities associated with the resource identifier to the network node associated with the first area of responsibility; detecting that a first network node is added to or removed from the network; performing said dividing and said assigning using a current number of network nodes available to be associated with an area of responsibility into a second plurality of areas of responsibility, in response to said detecting; and maximizing an overlap of areas of responsibility between the first plurality of areas of responsibility and the second plurality of areas of responsibility.