US Patent 11513716 Write first to winner in a metro cluster

A technique for maintaining synchronization between two arrays includes assigning one array to be a preferred array and the other array to be a non-preferred array. When write requests are received at the preferred array, the writes are applied locally first and then applied remotely. However, when write requests are received at the non-preferred array, such writes are applied remotely first and then applied locally. Thus, writes are applied first on the preferred array and then on the non-preferred array, regardless of whether the writes are initially received at the preferred array or the non-preferred array.