Patent ID: 7177901

Claim:
A method of preventing a client from directly contacting a content server that is protected by a load distribution server from an overload of traffic, comprising: receiving, at said content server, a request by the client for a file from said content server; determining, at said content server, whether said request originated as a reference from the load distribution server and determining whether said request originated as a reference from said content server itself; responsive to determining that said request originated as a reference from a set consisting of the load distribution server and said content server, said content server providing the requested file to the client; determining whether said request received from said content server originated as a reference from neither of the set consisting of the load distribution server and said content server; and responsive to determining that the client's request to receive the file from said content server originated as the reference from neither of the set consisting of the load distribution server and said content server, sending to the client a file requesting that the client contact the load distribution server, such that the client is prevented from directly accessing the file at said content server without first being redirected from the load distribution server.