Patent ID: 6587880
Filing Date: 2003-07-01
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A session management system in which a plurality of users, and a plurality of servers for offering web services to the users are connected through a network, comprising:said plurality of servers distributively including a user authentication unit to store, at a first of the servers, user account information for identifying the users, a session-management-identifier storage unit to store, at a second of the servers, session management identifiers which uniquely identify sessions of said servers with respective users of the plurality of users, where the session management identifiers are generated by the second server accessing the information identifying the users stored at the first server, and an authentication control unit to send notification indicating that a user among the respective users has been authenticated, as a reply to information based on a request made by the user, if a session management identifier contained in the information accepted by the server itself or sent from another of said servers agrees with any of the session management identifiers stored in said session-management-identifier storage unit of the second of the servers; and each of said plurality of servers further including a transmission/reception unit to transmit and receive data to and from said plurality of users through said network, and a control unit to accept the request made by the user from said transmission/reception unit, for sending said information based on said request-to said authentication control unit, and to offer the service complying with the user's request if the reply to said information as sent back from said authentication control unit is the notification indicating that the user has been authenticated.