Apparatus and method for tracking access to data resources in a cluster environment

A computer cluster using cluster membership and cluster voting services, comprising:

• a plurality of nodes each having a proxy thread and a service thread;
• a group services client for tracking which of the plurality of nodes share a distributed data resource;
• a local reference counter associated with each of the plurality of nodes;
• and
• circuitry for using cluster membership services to update the local reference counters for node failures.

A computer program product adaptable for storage on a computer readable medium, the computer program product operable for maintaining usage reference counts for replicated databases within a computer cluster using cluster membership and cluster voting services, comprising program steps operable for:

• maintaining a local reference count for all open distributed data resources within a given node;
• tracking those nodes that have the open distributed data resources;
• and
• using cluster membership services to update the local reference counts for node failures.