Patent ID: 6170017
Filing Date: 2001-01-02
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
In a client-server environment having a server group including one or more participating servers and one or more controller servers, where each participating server can communicate with at least one controller server, a method for coordinating actions among the servers in the server group comprising the steps of: communicating between a client and at least one of the servers in the server group using a protocol that has limited or no defined procedures for passing state information between the client and the servers; transmitting a request for an action requiring participation by a plurality of servers from the client to one of the servers; communicating among the servers with at least one controller server coordinating actions of the plurality of servers in response to the request, whereby the step of coordinating action comprises defining a default group of servers by at least one controller server in response to the request by the client, wherein said default group of servers consists of one or more servers in the server group with which the client has communicated in the course of a conversation and said default group of servers is determined with respect to critical subsets of servers, where each critical subset of servers is determined with respect to a transaction type, an authentication type, and a critical event.