Pattern 61 / COORD

Distributed Lock

Use this when Serializing access to shared work across nodes.

Pressure
Serializing access to shared work across nodes
Mechanism
Acquire time-bounded ownership in a coordination system before entering a critical section
Toll
Locks can expire mid-work; correctness needs fencing tokens or idempotency
Architecture plate61
Diagram for Distributed Lock
Executive brief

Distributed Lock fits when Serializing access to shared work across nodes. Mechanism: Acquire time-bounded ownership in a coordination system before entering a critical section. Use it for Singleton jobs, migrations, scarce resource allocation. The toll: Locks can expire mid-work; correctness needs fencing tokens or idempotency.

Use when

Singleton jobs, migrations, scarce resource allocation.

Example

Use distributed lock when singleton jobs, migrations, scarce resource allocation..

Review framing

Describe the pressure first, then the mechanism, then the cost. That keeps the design grounded.

Same pressure family

Coordination

60Leader Election62Lease63Fencing Token
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