Patent ID: 7577661

Claim:
A user-configurable, synchronized server farm, the server farm comprising: a communication system comprising at least one of: a bus, a network, and a shared memory; a configuration database, included in computer-readable memory and connected to the communication system, operative to store configuration data for the server farm and to send the configuration data to each server of the server farm in response to a request, the configuration data comprising server configuration settings and application-specific settings; a configuration data object model coupled to the configuration database for updating the configuration data stored in the configuration database in accordance with user input; and a plurality of servers connected through the communication system to the configuration database for receiving the configuration data stored in the configuration database, each server including a synchronization mechanism comprising a timer service for automatically updating the server with any change in the configuration data stored in the configuration database, the synchronization mechanism including an agent stored in the server, the agent periodically connecting to and querying the configuration database and downloading the change in the configuration data to the server, the plurality of servers forming the server farm.