Patent ID: 8412832

Claim:
A method of obtaining metric information by a multi-core intermediary device for providing global server load balancing, the method comprising: (a) establishing, by a first core of a plurality of cores of a first intermediary device providing global server load balancing (GSLB) to a plurality of remote sites, a first transport layer connection to a second intermediary device providing services to a first remote site of the plurality of remote sites; (b) transmitting, by the first core of the first intermediary device, a message to each of the other cores of the plurality of cores of the first intermediary device that the first core is a master core for receiving metric information from the second intermediary device; (c) receiving, by the first core via the first transport layer connection, metric information of the remote site from the second intermediary device, the metric information comprising site metrics for the first remote site managed by the second intermediary device, the site metrics comprising a list of internet protocol addresses and corresponding domain names; (d) propagating, by the first core, the metric information to each of the other cores of the plurality of cores, each of the cores storing the metric information; (e) receiving, by a GSLB virtual server executing on a second core of the plurality of cores of the first intermediary device, a domain name service (DNS) request for a domain name, the domain name corresponding to the first remote site; and (f) determining, by the GSLB virtual server, a DNS resolution to an internet protocol address corresponding to the domain name of the first remote site of the plurality of remote sites for the DNS request based on the list of IP address and corresponding domain names of the metric information stored on the second core.