Patent ID: 8544059

Claim:
A server for determining effective policy profiles in a client-server architecture, comprising: a local cache configured to store policy profiles having timeout values less than or equal to a predetermined value; an integrated policy data store configured to store a policy profile hierarchy; and one or more processors configured to: receive a policy profile request from a client device; determine whether the policy profiles stored in the local cache include an effective policy profile associated with the client device; identify multiple policy profiles in the policy data store that are effective for the client device in response to determining that the policy profiles stored in the local cache do not include the effective policy profile associated with the client device; select, based on distances within the policy profile hierarchy from the multiple identified policy profiles to a root associated with the policy data store, an identified policy profile from the multiple identified policy profiles in response to determining that the policy profiles stored in the local cache do not include an effective policy profile associated with the client device; and return, to the client device, the selected policy profile in response to determining that the policy profiles stored in the local cache do not include the effective policy profile associated with the client device.