Patent ID: 7640023

Claim:
A method of server load balancing between a plurality of servers arranged into a plurality of service groups, the method comprising: receiving an access request having requested server capability information for processing of the access request, the plurality of service groups being arranged based on server group capabilities, the server group capabilities representing at least one server capability that is common among the servers arranged in each service group; determining a highest priority match among the plurality of service groups by comparing the requested server capability information against the server group capabilities in a priority order from a most specific of the server group capabilities to a least specific of the server group capabilities, the priority order being derived using the requested server capability information, wherein the highest priority match determination among the plurality of service groups is made without regard to any hardware utilization comparisons; selecting one of the plurality of service groups for processing the access request based on the highest priority match determination; and selecting one of the plurality of servers within the selected service group based on a hardware utilization comparison among servers within the selected service group.