An approach is described that provides access to a named data element in a Coordination Namespace that is stored in a memory that is distributed amongst a set of nodes. A request of a name corresponding to the named data element is received from a requesting process and the approach responsively searches for the name in the Coordination Namespace. In response to determining an absence of data corresponding to the named data element, a pending state is indicated to the requesting process. In response to determining that the data corresponding to the named data element exists, a successful state is returned to the requesting process. In one embodiment, the successful state also includes providing the requesting process with access to the data corresponding to the named data element.