Patent ID: 7743144

Claim:
A method of monitoring access requests to access providers comprising: observing, using an intermediary device other than an access providing host that assigns resources responsive to inbound access requests, information identifying a requestor based on receipt of the requestor's submission of an access request to a first access providing host; accessing, using the intermediary device, stored information identifying previous requestors, of the first access providing host as well as of other access providing hosts, that are determined to have submitted a previous access request that has timed out prior to submission of an acknowledgement corresponding to the previous access request; comparing, using the intermediary device, the observed information identifying the requestor to the stored information identifying previous requestors; and when the comparison reveals that the requestor has submitted a previous access request that has timed out prior to submission of an acknowledgement corresponding to the previous access request, denying, using the intermediary device, the access request submitted by the requestor while denying passage of the access request to the first access providing host, wherein the intermediary device is a switch capable of performing load balancing for the first access providing host as well as the other access providing hosts.