Patent ID: 8499004

Claim:
A method for performing I/O operations on a file stored in a file system utilizing a shared data storage system and accessible by a plurality of host computers wherein any of the host computers are capable of acquiring a lock from the file system to exclusively access the file, the method comprising: receiving from a process executing on one of the host computers, a request to read data stored in the file; requesting, by the host computer, the data stored in the file without acquiring a lock from the file system to access the file; maintaining, in the memory of the host computer, a timeout value associated with the file while the data is being read by the host computer; receiving by the host computer at least a portion of the data prior to an expiration of time as indicated by the timeout value; and if all the data has not been received by the host computer before the expiration of time, assessing, by the host computer upon the expiration of time, whether another of the host computers has acquired a lock on the file, and invalidating, by the host computer, the received data without providing the received data to the requesting process if another of the host computers has acquired a lock on the file.