Method and apparatus for synchronizing applications' consumption of remote data

A system comprising:

• a plurality of consumers of an ordered data stream comprising an ordered sequence of data chunks;
• a plurality of local clocks associated with the plurality of consumers, a local clock in the plurality of local clocks indicating a local time of a consumer in the plurality of consumers;
• a group clock indicating a group time at which the plurality of consumers should consume a data chunk in the ordered data stream;
• one or more processors associated with the consumer in the plurality of consumers executing instructions to synchronize a consumption of the data chunk in the ordered data stream among the plurality of consumers, the instructions comprising:
• instructions for prior to initiating the consumption of the ordered data stream synchronizing the group clock and the local clock to obtain a mapping between the local time and the group time;
• instructions for receiving the data chunk and an indication of the group time associated with the data chunk in the ordered data stream;
• instructions for based on the group time and the mapping between the local time and the group time, calculating the local time corresponding to the group time, the local time associated with the local clock;
• instructions for comparing the local time to a current time associated with the local clock to generate a comparison indicating whether the local time associated with the data chunk is before the current time, substantially identical to the current time, or after the current time;
• and
• instructions for based on the comparison ensuring that the plurality of consumers consume the data chunk synchronously by dropping the data chunk, adjusting a time duration of the data chunk, or consuming the data chunk.