Patent ID: 6973489

Claim:
A method of monitoring access to a server system as experienced from multiple user locations on a computer network, comprising: at a monitoring location, generating first and second request messages that represent requests from users of the server system; transmitting the first request message over a first communications link from the monitoring location to a first network access location that is remote from the monitoring location for transmission on the network at the first network access location, to thereby simulate access to the server system by a user who is local to the first network access location; transmitting the second request message over a second communications link from the monitoring location to a second network access location that is remote from both the monitoring location and the first network access location for transmission on the network at the second network access location, to thereby simulate access to the server system by a user who is local to the second network access location; and at the monitoring location, monitoring responses received from the server system to the first and second request messages; whereby user access to the server system as experienced by users local to the first and second network access locations is monitored without the need for monitoring components local to the first and second network access locations.