Client-initiated leader election in distributed client-server systems

A computer program product for a client-initiated leader election in a distributed system, the computer program product comprising:

• a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, wherein the computer readable storage medium is not a transitory signal per se, the program instructions executable by a device to cause the device to perform a method comprising:
• receiving a master listener election request by at least one listener of a plurality of listeners in the distributed system;
• based on no one listener in the plurality of listeners being designated as the master listener, arranging a list of configured listeners in a descending priority order to become the master listener, wherein a priority of each configured listener comprises a pre-configured priority capable of being changed over time, wherein the list of configured listeners comprises one or more listeners set for connection;
• selecting a listener with a highest priority from the list of configured listeners;
• determining an availability of the selected listener;
• verifying a connectivity to the selected listener by sending a test message to the selected listener using a ping utility program;
• designating the selected listener as a master listener based on the connectivity;
• sending a heartbeat message to each of the plurality of listeners in the distributed system to communicate the designation of the selected listener as the master listener;
• and
• connecting to the master listener, the master listener manages load balancing among all of the plurality of listeners, wherein communication is allowed only between the master listener and each listener of the plurality of listeners and not between listeners of the plurality of listeners to reduce collisions between listeners and network chatter.