System and method for assignment of unique identifiers in a distributed environment

A system for allocating identifiers for use at a plurality of database server nodes sharing access to a database, the system comprising:

• a database;
• a plurality of database server nodes connected to each other via a network and sharing access to the database;
• an identity data structure at each database server node for maintaining information about identifiers allocated for use among the plurality of database server nodes;
• a distributed lock for regulating access to the identity data structure at the plurality of server nodes;
• and
• an identity manager, responsive to a request for identifiers at a given node, for acquiring the distributed lock on the identity data structure, allocating a set of identifiers to the given node upon acquiring the distributed lock, updating the identity data structure at said plurality of database server nodes to reflect allocation of the set of identifiers for the given node, and relinquishing the distributed lock after completion of updates to the identity data structure at all database server nodes.

In a distributed database system having a plurality of nodes sharing access to a database, a method for allocating identifiers for use at nodes of the distributed system, the method comprising:

• allocating a pool of identifiers from the database for use among the plurality of nodes of the distributed database system;
• maintaining information about the pool of identifiers at each of the nodes in an identity data structure;
• in response to a request for identifiers at a given node, providing identifiers from a set of identifiers previously allocated for use at the given node while identifiers remain in the set allocated for the given node;
• when no identifiers remain in the set, obtaining additional identifiers for use at the given node by performing substeps of:
• acquiring a lock on the identity data structure at each of the nodes;
• at the given node, allocating identifiers available in the pool for use at the given node;
• updating the identity data structure to reflect allocation of the identifiers for the given node;
• and
• upon updating the identity data structure at all nodes, relinquishing the lock.