Patent ID: 6360279
Filing Date: 2002-03-19
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
A software system comprising:a server system comprising an operating system, the operating system operable to support a well-known address, the well-known address operable to receive data from a network, the operating system further operable to provide interprocess communication; the operating system further operable to support a buffer associated with the well-known address, the buffer operable to store information received at the well-known address; a plurality of handler processes operable to access a notification system in parallel, to attempt parallel acceptance of pending requests from the buffer, to process error messages informing the handler process that no requests are pending in the buffer, and to service requests accepted from the buffer, such that a single request will result in the notification to a plurality of the handler processes that a plurality of requests are pending in the buffer, one handler process which will service the request, the remaining handler processes operable to service other, later requests or to perform error handling if no other requests are present; the operating system further comprising the notification system, the notification system comprising a flag, the flag operable to be accessed by a plurality of handler processes, and the flag further operable to reflect the existence or non-existence of pending requests in the buffer; a network system operable to allow communication between the server system and a plurality of client systems; and a spawner process operable to create or destroy a plurality of handler processes, the spawner process further operable to increase or decrease the number of handler processes in existence, the magnitude of the increase or decrease based on an algorithm, such that the algorithm attempts to balance the number of handler processes necessary to provide rapid service to client requests with the amount of server resources used to support the handler processes.