Working on the cluster i/o
diff --git a/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/store/cluster/messaging/EchoMessage.java b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/store/cluster/messaging/EchoMessage.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d25a341
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/store/dist/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/store/cluster/messaging/EchoMessage.java
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+package org.onlab.onos.store.cluster.messaging;
+
+import org.onlab.onos.cluster.NodeId;
+
+/**l
+ * Echo heart-beat message that nodes send to each other.
+ */
+public class EchoMessage extends ClusterMessage {
+
+    private NodeId nodeId;
+
+    // For serialization
+    private EchoMessage() {
+        super(MessageSubject.HELLO);
+        nodeId = null;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new heart-beat echo message.
+     *
+     * @param nodeId    sending node identification
+     */
+    public EchoMessage(NodeId nodeId) {
+        super(MessageSubject.HELLO);
+        nodeId = nodeId;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the sending node identifer.
+     *
+     * @return node identifier
+     */
+    public NodeId nodeId() {
+        return nodeId;
+    }
+
+}