Resource Command Messages and Methods

1. An article of manufacture comprising: a non-transitory computer-readable medium; and instructions within the computer-readable medium that, when executed, cause a node: to transmit, in a first multicast message, a first resource command message to a plurality of resource nodes over a communication path; to receive responses to the first resource command message from the plurality of resource nodes; to select a preferred provider from the plurality of resource nodes based at least in part on the responses received from the plurality of resource nodes; and to transmit, in a second multicast message, a second resource command message to the plurality of resource nodes, the second resource command message including a command and an indication of the preferred provider selected from the plurality of resource nodes, said second resource command message to instruct the preferred provider to process the command with a first urgency and to instruct another resource node of the plurality of resource nodes to process the command with a second urgency that is less than the first urgency.

2. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein each of the responses from the plurality of resource nodes include identical content.

3. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of resource nodes comprise a plurality of redundant resource nodes that manage duplicate resources.

4. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the second resource command message has a command urgency that includes the indication of the preferred provider.

5. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the first resource command message includes a command urgency that indicates a relative time to process a command in the first resource command message.

6. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the first resource command message includes a command urgency that indicates an absolute time to process a command in the first resource command message.

7. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the first resource command message includes a command importance that indicates an absolute priority to process a command in the first resource command message.

8. The article of manufacture of claim 1 , wherein the second resource command message includes a command identifier that relates the second resource command message to the first resource command message.

9. A method comprising: transmitting, in a first multicast message, a first resource command message to a plurality of resource nodes; receiving responses to the first resource command message from the plurality of resource nodes; selecting a preferred provider from the plurality of resource nodes based at least in part on the responses received from the plurality of resource nodes; and transmitting, in a second multicast message, a second resource command message to the plurality of resource nodes, the second resource command message including a command and an indication of the preferred provider selected from the plurality of resource nodes, said second resource command message to instruct the preferred provider to process the command with a first urgency and to instruct another resource node of the plurality of resource nodes to process the command with a second urgency that is less than the first urgency.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein each of the responses from the plurality of resource nodes include identical content.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of resource nodes comprise a plurality of redundant resource nodes that manage duplicate resources.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: providing the second resource command message with a command urgency that includes the indication of the preferred provider.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: providing the first resource command message with a command urgency that indicates a relative time to process a command within the first resource command message.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: providing the first resource command message with a command urgency that indicates an absolute time to process a command within the first resource command message.

15. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: providing the first resource command message with a command importance that indicates an absolute priority to process a command within the first resource command.

16. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: providing the second resource command message with a command identifier that relates the second resource command message to the first resource command message.

17. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: transmitting a broadcast discovery message; receiving a discovery response from a first resource node of the plurality of resource nodes, the discovery response including a name of the first resource node; and determining, based at least in part on the name, an address to be used in sending communications to the first resource node over a communication path.