Patent ID: 8683079

Claim:
A system, comprising: a first machine operated by a service provider and comprising at least one hardware microprocessor coupled to memory storing code that is executable on the at least one hardware microprocessor to provide a first service to requesting clients via a network interface, the first service being any of: HTTP service, HTTPS service, and FTP service; a second machine operated by the service provider and comprising at least one hardware microprocessor coupled to memory storing code that is executable on the at least one hardware microprocessor to provide a second service to requesting clients via a network interface, the second service being different than the first service; a third machine operated by the service provider and comprising at least one hardware microprocessor coupled to memory storing code that is executable on the at least one hardware microprocessor to determine a specific load metric that reflects load on the first machine for the first service, wherein the specific load metric is of a type that is specific to the first service; the code on the third machine further being executable on the at least one hardware microprocessor to determine a generic load metric that reflects load on the second machine for the second service, wherein the generic load metric is of a type that is generic to the first and second services.