Patent ID: 7127518

Claim:
A method for implementing functionality within a network on behalf of first and second computers communicating with each other through the network, the method comprising the acts of: providing a front-end computer within the network having an interface for communicating data traffic with the first computer, wherein the front-end computer implements a web server; providing a back-end computer within the network having an interface for communicating data traffic with the second computer, wherein the back-end computer implements a web server; providing a communication channel coupling the front-end computer and the back-end computer; encoding data traffic over the communication channel in a first process in the front-end computer; encoding data traffic over the communication channel in a second process in the back-end computer, decoding the encoded data traffic from the front-end computer in a third process in the back-end computer; decoding the encoded data traffic from the back-end computer in a fourth process in the front-end computer, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth processes implement preselected compatible semantics to perform the encoding and the decoding on the data traffics wherein the preselected compatible semantics comprise processes for sharing operational information for the front-end and back-end computers and wherein the act of encoding comprises: communicating quality of service information about the communication channel between the front-end and back-end computers.