Method and system for protecting the consistency of information in a distributed file system

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method, in a computing environment comprising a lease coordinator, a data object, and a plurality of client devices, for protecting consistency of properties of the data object, the method comprising:

• by each of at least a subset of the plurality of client devices, sending to the lease coordinator a self value representative of that client device's intended use of the data object;
• by the lease coordinator, receiving at least a subset of the self values sent by the client devices;
• by the lease coordinator, calculating for a target client device an other value representative of that target client device's permissible use of the data object, the other value based, at least in part, on at least a subset of the self values sent by the client devices;
• by the lease coordinator, sending to the target client device the other value calculated for the target client device;
• and
• by the target client device, receiving the other value calculated for the target client device.

In a computing environment comprising a lease coordinator, a data object, and a plurality of client devices, a method for a target client device to protect consistency of properties of the data object, the method comprising:

• sending to the lease coordinator a self value representative of the target client device's intended use of the data object;
• receiving from the lease coordinator an other value for the target client device;
• and
• using the data object, the using based, at least in part, on the received other value for the target client device.

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method, in a computing environment comprising a lease coordinator, a data object, and a plurality of client devices, for a target client device to protect consistency of properties of the data object, the method comprising:

• sending to the lease coordinator a self value representative of the target client device's intended use of the data object;
• receiving from the lease coordinator an other value for the target client device;
• and
• using the data object, the using based, at least in part, on the received other value for the target client device.

In a computing environment comprising a lease coordinator, a data object, and a plurality of client devices, a method for the lease coordinator to protect consistency of properties of the data object, the method comprising:

• receiving from each of at least a subset of the plurality of client devices a self value representative of that client device's intended use of the data object;
• calculating for a target client device an other value representative of that target client device's permissible use of the data object, the other value based, at least in part, on at least a subset of the self values sent by the client devices;
• and
• sending to the target client device the other value calculated for the target client device.

A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing a method, in a computing environment comprising a lease coordinator, a data object, and a plurality of client devices, for the lease coordinator to protect consistency of properties of the data object, the method comprising:

• receiving from each of at least a subset of the plurality of client devices a self value representative of that client device's intended use of the data object;
• calculating for a target client device an other value representative of that target client device's permissible use of the data object, the other value based, at least in part, on at least a subset of the self values sent by the client devices;
• and
• sending to the target client device the other value calculated for the target client device.

A system for protecting consistency of properties of a data object, the system comprising:

• the data object;
• a plurality of client devices, each client device configured for sending to a lease coordinator a self value representative of that client device's intended use of the data object;
• the lease coordinator configured for receiving at least a subset of the self values sent by the client devices, for calculating for a target client device an other value representative of that target client device's permissible use of the data object, the other value based, at least in part, on at least a subset of the self values sent by the client devices, and for sending to the target client device the other value calculated for the target client device;
• and
• a target client device configured for receiving the other value calculated for the target client device.