Patent 10037242 was granted and assigned to Microsoft on July, 2018 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A first processor enters a control record in a database and then selects the control record and locks it with a pessimistic lock. If the first processor finishes its operations, it deletes the control record. A subsequent processor searches for the control record and attempts to lock it with a pessimistic lock. If the subsequent processor is successful in locking the control record, it determines that the first processor has failed in performing its process, and takes desired action.