System and method for providing infrastructure services without a designated network manager

A tangible computer-readable storage medium that includes computer-executable instructions for cooperatively managing network services in the absence of a designated network services manager, the instructions comprising:

• a first computing device identifying cooperative members on a network;
• if other cooperative members exist, obtaining at least one parameter of shared network services from a representative selected from the other cooperative members, else the first computing device creating the at least one parameter of the shared network services and designating the first computing device as the representative;
• wherein the shared network services comprise addressing and naming services that are implemented without the designated network services manager, wherein the parameter comprises a network address parameter comprising a randomly chosen number within a position of the network address parameter;
• wherein the network address parameter is used by the cooperative members on the network to allocate and create network addresses for themselves and for clients connected to them;
• updating the at least one parameter of the shared network services when a new member joins the network;
• when the new member joins the network, automatically negotiating between the representative and the new member to determine when the new member is designated as at least one of:
• the representative and an additional representative;
• updating the at least one parameter of the shared network services when a member leaves the network;
• and
• sharing the updated parameter with other members in the network.

A system for cooperatively managing network services in the absence of a designated network services manager, the system comprising:

• a mesh network having mesh nodes included therein;
• and
• a logical server distributed across the mesh network that is configured to execute computer-executable instructions on a processor on each of the mesh nodes, the computer-executable instructions executing on the processor comprising:
• identifying neighboring mesh nodes on the mesh network by broadcasting a notification message that determines whether other mesh nodes are within communication range of the current mesh node;
• obtaining network parameters corresponding to any neighboring mesh nodes, wherein the network parameters include at least an address allocation that is used to allocate and create network addresses in the absence of the designated network services manager;
• wherein the address allocation comprises a randomly chosen number within a position of a network address parameter that is used by each of the mesh nodes as an address in the mesh network;
• when there are not any neighboring mesh nodes for a mesh node, creating the network parameters on the mesh node and designating the mesh node as the representative of a new mesh node that becomes a neighbor to the mesh node;
• when a new mesh node joins the network, automatically negotiating between the representative and the new mesh node to determine when the new mesh node is designated as at least one of:
• the representative and an additional representative;
• determining a new network parameter for a current mesh node on the mesh network;
• and
• updating a shared collection of network parameters with the new network parameter by broadcasting an update message to the neighboring mesh nodes.