Patent ID: 7640339

Claim:
A method for monitoring a target node in a distributed system, comprising: determining a plurality of neighbor nodes of the target node, wherein each one of the plurality of neighbor nodes is directly connected to the target node; determining a plurality of neighbor watch nodes, wherein the plurality of neighbor watch nodes is selected from the plurality of neighbor nodes; monitoring at least one selected from the group consisting of data sent by the target node and data received by the target node, using at least one of the plurality of neighbor watch nodes to obtain tracking information; and determining, using at least one the plurality of neighbor watch nodes, an action to perform using the tracking information and a response policy, wherein the action is specified in the response policy, and wherein the response policy comprises a specified operating Parameter of the target node and a voting policy which specifies the number of neighbor watch nodes that must agree prior to initiating the action, wherein the distributed system implements an overlay network for message delivery, and wherein the action comprises sending a warning message to the target node if the tracking information indicates that the target node is operating outside the specified operating parameters, and disconnecting the target node from the distributed system, if the target node does not begin operating in the within specified operating parameters within a pre-defined period of time.