Patent ID: 7035846

Claim:
A method for processing directory queries in a directory service apparatus, said method comprising: in response to a directory service query being received by a proxy server of the directory service apparatus, comparing characteristics of the received query with query characteristics stored in cache storage at the proxy server, which stored information is representative of a set of directory queries for which results information is stored in said cache storage, thereby to identify a subset of the set of cached directory queries which are potentially relevant to the received query; determining whether any of the subset of cached directory queries contains the received query; in response to a positive determination that a cached directory query contains the received query, retrieving from said cache storage the results information corresponding to the containing cached directory query and answering the received query using the retrieved results information, wherein the compared query characteristics are attribute value assertions (AVAs) of the received query and attribute value assertions of the set of queries held in the cache storage of the proxy server, and wherein the proxy server comprises any of: a reverse proxy located near the directory server or is a part of the directory server, and a forward proxy located near a client system or is a cart of the client system.