A method for fast I/O path failure detection and cluster wide failover. The method includes accessing a distributed computer system having a cluster including a plurality of nodes, and experiencing an I/O path failure for a storage device. An I/O failure message is generated in response to the I/O path failure. A cluster wide I/O failure message broadcast to the plurality of nodes that designates a faulted controller. Upon receiving I/O failure responses from the plurality nodes, an I/O queue message is broadcast to the nodes to cause the nodes to queue I/O through the faulted controller and switch to an alternate controller. Upon receiving I/O queue responses from the plurality nodes, an I/O failover commit message is broadcast to the nodes to cause the nodes to commit to a failure and un-queue their I/O.