diff --git a/weed/cluster/lock_manager/lock_ring.go b/weed/cluster/lock_manager/lock_ring.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..df5ebebac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/weed/cluster/lock_manager/lock_ring.go
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+package lock_manager
+
+import (
+	"github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/pb"
+	"sort"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+)
+
+type LockRingSnapshot struct {
+	servers []pb.ServerAddress
+	ts      time.Time
+}
+
+type LockRing struct {
+	sync.RWMutex
+	snapshots        []*LockRingSnapshot
+	candidateServers map[pb.ServerAddress]struct{}
+	lastUpdateTime   time.Time
+	lastCompactTime  time.Time
+	snapshotInterval time.Duration
+	onTakeSnapshot   func(snapshot []pb.ServerAddress)
+}
+
+func NewLockRing(snapshotInterval time.Duration, onTakeSnapshot func(snapshot []pb.ServerAddress)) *LockRing {
+	return &LockRing{
+		snapshotInterval: snapshotInterval,
+		candidateServers: make(map[pb.ServerAddress]struct{}),
+		onTakeSnapshot:   onTakeSnapshot,
+	}
+}
+
+// AddServer adds a server to the ring
+// if the previous snapshot passed the snapshot interval, create a new snapshot
+func (r *LockRing) AddServer(server pb.ServerAddress) {
+	r.Lock()
+
+	if _, found := r.candidateServers[server]; found {
+		r.Unlock()
+		return
+	}
+	r.lastUpdateTime = time.Now()
+	r.candidateServers[server] = struct{}{}
+	r.Unlock()
+
+	r.takeSnapshotWithDelayedCompaction()
+}
+
+func (r *LockRing) RemoveServer(server pb.ServerAddress) {
+	r.Lock()
+
+	if _, found := r.candidateServers[server]; !found {
+		r.Unlock()
+		return
+	}
+	r.lastUpdateTime = time.Now()
+	delete(r.candidateServers, server)
+	r.Unlock()
+
+	r.takeSnapshotWithDelayedCompaction()
+}
+
+func (r *LockRing) SetSnapshot(servers []pb.ServerAddress) {
+
+	sort.Slice(servers, func(i, j int) bool {
+		return servers[i] < servers[j]
+	})
+
+	r.lastUpdateTime = time.Now()
+
+	r.addOneSnapshot(servers)
+
+	go func() {
+		<-time.After(r.snapshotInterval)
+		r.compactSnapshots()
+	}()
+}
+
+func (r *LockRing) takeSnapshotWithDelayedCompaction() {
+	r.doTakeSnapshot()
+
+	go func() {
+		<-time.After(r.snapshotInterval)
+		r.compactSnapshots()
+	}()
+}
+
+func (r *LockRing) doTakeSnapshot() {
+	servers := r.getSortedServers()
+
+	r.addOneSnapshot(servers)
+}
+
+func (r *LockRing) addOneSnapshot(servers []pb.ServerAddress) {
+	r.Lock()
+	defer r.Unlock()
+
+	ts := time.Now()
+	t := &LockRingSnapshot{
+		servers: servers,
+		ts:      ts,
+	}
+	r.snapshots = append(r.snapshots, t)
+	for i := len(r.snapshots) - 2; i >= 0; i-- {
+		r.snapshots[i+1] = r.snapshots[i]
+	}
+	r.snapshots[0] = t
+
+	if r.onTakeSnapshot != nil {
+		r.onTakeSnapshot(t.servers)
+	}
+}
+
+func (r *LockRing) compactSnapshots() {
+	r.Lock()
+	defer r.Unlock()
+
+	if r.lastCompactTime.After(r.lastUpdateTime) {
+		return
+	}
+
+	ts := time.Now()
+	// remove old snapshots
+	recentSnapshotIndex := 1
+	for ; recentSnapshotIndex < len(r.snapshots); recentSnapshotIndex++ {
+		if ts.Sub(r.snapshots[recentSnapshotIndex].ts) > r.snapshotInterval {
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	// keep the one that has been running for a while
+	if recentSnapshotIndex+1 <= len(r.snapshots) {
+		r.snapshots = r.snapshots[:recentSnapshotIndex+1]
+	}
+	r.lastCompactTime = ts
+}
+
+func (r *LockRing) getSortedServers() []pb.ServerAddress {
+	sortedServers := make([]pb.ServerAddress, 0, len(r.candidateServers))
+	for server := range r.candidateServers {
+		sortedServers = append(sortedServers, server)
+	}
+	sort.Slice(sortedServers, func(i, j int) bool {
+		return sortedServers[i] < sortedServers[j]
+	})
+	return sortedServers
+}
diff --git a/weed/cluster/lock_manager/lock_ring_test.go b/weed/cluster/lock_manager/lock_ring_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a8c88f4ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/weed/cluster/lock_manager/lock_ring_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+package lock_manager
+
+import (
+	"github.com/seaweedfs/seaweedfs/weed/pb"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func TestAddServer(t *testing.T) {
+	counter := 0
+	r := NewLockRing(100*time.Millisecond, func(snapshot []pb.ServerAddress) {
+		counter++
+		if counter == 1 {
+			assert.Equal(t, 1, len(snapshot))
+		} else if counter == 2 {
+			assert.Equal(t, 2, len(snapshot))
+		}
+	})
+	r.AddServer("localhost:8080")
+	assert.Equal(t, 1, len(r.snapshots))
+	r.AddServer("localhost:8081")
+	r.AddServer("localhost:8082")
+	r.AddServer("localhost:8083")
+	r.AddServer("localhost:8084")
+	r.RemoveServer("localhost:8084")
+	r.RemoveServer("localhost:8082")
+	r.RemoveServer("localhost:8080")
+
+	assert.Equal(t, 8, len(r.snapshots))
+
+	time.Sleep(110 * time.Millisecond)
+
+	assert.Equal(t, 2, len(r.snapshots))
+
+}
+
+func TestLockRing(t *testing.T) {
+	r := NewLockRing(100*time.Millisecond, nil)
+	r.SetSnapshot([]pb.ServerAddress{"localhost:8080", "localhost:8081"})
+	assert.Equal(t, 1, len(r.snapshots))
+	r.SetSnapshot([]pb.ServerAddress{"localhost:8080", "localhost:8081", "localhost:8082"})
+	assert.Equal(t, 2, len(r.snapshots))
+	time.Sleep(110 * time.Millisecond)
+	r.SetSnapshot([]pb.ServerAddress{"localhost:8080", "localhost:8081", "localhost:8082", "localhost:8083"})
+	assert.Equal(t, 3, len(r.snapshots))
+	time.Sleep(110 * time.Millisecond)
+	assert.Equal(t, 2, len(r.snapshots))
+	r.SetSnapshot([]pb.ServerAddress{"localhost:8080", "localhost:8081", "localhost:8082", "localhost:8083", "localhost:8084"})
+	assert.Equal(t, 3, len(r.snapshots))
+}