Abstract: A distributed cache management system controls individual cache objects so they are selectively updated if messages are received at another cache in an expected order and selectively invalidated if messages are received with certain error state, thus causing reference to be made to the central database. In specific embodiments of the invention, each change to an object in the central database is assigned a unique version number with an inherent ordering to serialize all changes, and the version number is used as a key to determine if messages have been lost or otherwise received at a cache out of order. In a further specific embodiment, full object state information is communicated among caches without need for verification through the central database. Thus if messages are lost or received out of order, the state can be applied to the targeted objects in the local cache assuring full synchronization.