Abstract: In a distributed system whose state space is partitioned into recovery units, wherein recovery units communicate by the exchange of messages and wherein a message received by a recovery unit may causally depend on other recovery units having received prior messages, a method of recovering from failure of any number of recovery units in the system comprising the steps of: (a) tracking the dependency of each message received by a recovery unit in terms of the causative messages received by other recovery units in the system; and (b) restoring all recovery units to a consistent system-wide state after recovery unit failure by means of the tracked message dependencies.

Abstract: Apparatus for handling creme filled cookies during a period in which the filling is hardening. The cookies are formed of a pair of baked base cakes separated by a layer of creme filling material which is applied in a heated fluid state and hardens as it cools. The apparatus includes a cooling tunnel and a conveyor extending through the tunnel. The conveyor is segmented, each segment having a bottom wall and a pair of side walls which form an elongated trough to carry a continuous column of cookies through the cooling tunnel. The side walls of the segments are inclined outwardly to tangentially engage the edge of the base cakes and support the cookies in a vertical position.