Patent ID: 7437461

Claim:
A load balancing apparatus for transferring a processing request from a user terminal to either of a plurality of servers, comprising: a selector that selects, if it is detected that a trouble occurred in a first server included in said plurality of servers, a second server other than said first server from said plurality of servers as a new transfer destination of said processing request whose transfer destination is set to said first server; a generator that determines a specific connection that is one of a new connection and an already-established connection, to said second server, and generates and stores into a connection management data storage, without deleting data concerning a connection to said user terminal in said connection management data storage, setting data to transfer said processing request whose transfer destination is set to said first server to said second server via said specific connection; and a unit that transfers said processing request according to said setting data stored in said connection management data storage, wherein said connection management data storage stores data representing an association between a terminal-side connection to said user terminal and a server-side connection to either of said plurality of servers, and said generator generates said setting data including said new connection to said second server, as said server-side connection, in association with said terminal-side connection to said user terminal, when said specific connection is said new connection, and generates said setting data including said already-established connection to said second server, as said server-side connection, in association with said terminal-side connection to said user terminal, when said specific connection is said already-established server.