System, method and mechanism to efficiently coordinate cache sharing between cluster nodes operating on the same regions of a file or the file system blocks shared among multiple files

Abstract

Various systems, methods and apparatuses for coordinating the sharing of cache data between cluster nodes operating on the same data objects. One embodiment involves a first node in a cluster receiving a request for a data object, querying a global lock manager to determine if a second node in the cluster is the lock owner of the data object, receiving an indication identifying the second node as the lock owner and indicating that the data object is available in the second node's local cache, requesting the data object from the second node, and then receiving the data object from the second node's local cache. Other embodiments include determining whether the lock is a shared lock or an exclusive lock, and either pulling the data object from the local node of the second cache or receiving the data object that is pushed from the second node, as appropriate.