Method and apparatus for accelerating the expiration of resource records in a local cache

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for invalidating resource records in a local cache at a client computer system within a network, the method comprising:

• receiving a multicast message from another client querying a device;
• locating a resource record associated with the device;
• waiting for a multicast response to the multicast message querying the device;
• and
• when a predetermined number of multicast messages from the other client querying the device have been received without receiving the multicast response from the device to the other client, invalidating the resource record associated with the device.

An apparatus that invalidates resource records in a local cache at a client computer system within a network, comprising:

• an invalidation mechanism configured to:
• receive a multicast message from another client querying a device;
• receive a resource record associated with the device from the retrieval mechanism in response to receiving the multicast message;
• wait for a multicast response to the multicast message querying the device;
• and
• when a predetermined number of multicast messages from the other client querying the device have been received without receiving the multicast response from the device to the other client, invalidate the resource record associated with the device.