Perhaps something similar to the DLM in JGroups could be implemented as a part of a common clustering library, as I think it takes away from JGroups' core focus to have it reside in JGroups. (IMO) Re: the problem of the lock owner crashing, surely JGroups FD can kick in, and when a new view is issued, locks held by missing members can be automatically released? Further, timeouts can be applied to ensure locks cannot be held forever, although this may undermine the purpose of the lock in the first place. Replicated deadlock, anyone? :-) View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4003697#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...