Patent ID: 7822862
Filing Date: 2010-10-26
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method of satisfying a demand on a server farm or local area network, the farm or network including a demand director server, a first resource server having a first resource thereon, and a second resource server having a second, different, resource thereon, said demand director server having knowledge of what resources are held on said first and second resource servers, the method comprising: responding to a request for one of said first and second resources by (a) selecting one of said first and second resource servers to serve out said requested resource and (b) directing said request to said selected one of said first and second resource servers, wherein said selecting comprises using the demand director server's knowledge of where the requested resource is located; and the selected resource server serving up a reply to said request by inserting into said reply an address of the demand director server, wherein inserting into said reply the address of the demand director server causes said reply to appear to a requestor who made said request as coming from said demand director server, wherein serving said reply comprises sending said reply to the requestor over a network while bypassing the demand director server, wherein inserting into said reply the address of the demand director server causes establishment of a virtual connection between the requestor and the demand director server for serving content from the first and second resource servers to the requestor while hiding an identity of the first and second resource servers, the content including said reply, wherein the virtual connection is a temporary connection that when maintained allows the requestor to receive the content from the first and second resource servers and wherein, when the temporary connection is broken, the requestor is prevented from receiving the content without first accessing the demand director server.