Patent ID: 7191357

Claim:
In an object-based data storage system including a client and a primary manager, a method of handling said client's inability to obtain service from said primary manager, said method comprising: configuring said client to issue a request for said service to a backup manager associated with said primary manager; configuring said backup manager to contact a realm manager and to request said realm manager to authorize a fail-over event, wherein said realm manager is one of a plurality of realm managers each of which maintains a record representing a storage configuration of a portion of said data storage system, and wherein authorization of said fail-over event allows said backup manager to perform functions of said primary manager; configuring said plurality of realm managers to determine a first inquiry and a second inquiry using a quorum/consensus algorithm, and enforcing a result of the first and second inquiries over all of said plurality of realm managers, wherein said first inquiry is whether said primary manager is disabled and wherein said second inquiry is whether there is a quorum of said plurality of realm managers that is in agreement that said primary manager is disabled; and configuring said realm manager to authorize said fail-over event when said first and said second inquiries are determined in the affirmative, thereby allowing said backup manager to function as said primary manager; further comprising continually updating said backup manager with a full transient state of said primary manager so as to replicate a most recent transient state of said primary manager at said backup manager.