A method for operating a distributed computing system including a plurality of nodes connected in a general network topological sequential manner includes storing a first message on a first node; removing the first message from the first node only if an N-level acknowledgement message is received by the first node indicating that a second message based on the data of the first message was successfully received by a second node on a second level, wherein the difference between the values for the first and second level is a predefined value N; and saving a node state of at least the second node or a third node on a level higher than the first level before sending out an acknowledgement message to a node on a level below if an outgoing message towards the second node is generated based on the node state.