1. A method for controlling access to a shared storage system wherein the shared storage system is in communication with at least one cluster of host nodes, comprising: storing cluster membership metadata in a storage independent from the shared storage for at least one cluster; updating the cluster membership metadata in response to an inclusion or exclusion request from a requesting host node comprising one of the host nodes identifying at least one other host node to include or exclude from a cluster; and managing access to at least one storage volume in the shared storage system in response to the updating of the cluster membership metadata for the inclusion or exclusion request.