Patent ID: 8891522

Claim:
An overlay network that provides a plurality of client machines remote access to an application executing on a target server, wherein each client machine communicates with the application over the Internet using Internet Protocol (IP) transport, comprising: a domain name service that is authoritative for a hostname associated with the application; a set of servers, wherein each server in the overlay network receives and processes communications over IP, the set of servers including at least a first server having a virtual IP address determined by resolution of the hostname associated with the application, and at least a second server located in association with the application, the set of servers providing a number of overlay network paths over which IP-based data packets, adapted for transmission between the client machine and the application, are capable of being communicated; and a controller executing software-implemented business logic on a hardware element to determine, using a cost/benefit tradeoff function, whether an IP-based request data packet is communicated between a client machine and the application executing on the target server using the servers of the overlay network, the software-implemented business logic also dynamically adjusting a number of the overlay network paths over which IP-based data packets are communicated between the client machine and the application as a function of one of: packet loss, and latency.