Abstract: A system and method for monitoring the state and operability of components in distributed computing systems. The present invention indicates whether a component is operating correctly, and reliably distributes the state of all components among the elements of the system by means of a reliable multicast protocol. A Life Support Service (LSS) update service enables clients to record, retrieve, and distribute state information locally and remotely via table entries. An LSS heartbeat service enables prompt delivery of notice of failure to all components.