Patent ID: 7010426

Claim:
A system for serving map data and map related services over a computer network to two or more clients, the system comprising: a server associated with at least first and second URLs, wherein the first URL is invokable by at least one of the clients to cause the server to interact with the one client as a first type of map client having a first weight or thickness; and wherein the second URL is invokable by at least another of the clients to cause the server to interact with the other client as second type of map client having a second weight or thickness that differs from the first weight or thickness; and a map server including: a first map service pool having two or more first map service objects or instances for answering requests from the clients for a first map service; and a second map service pool having two or more second map service instances for answering requests from the clients for a second map service; and means for establishing and maintaining a pool of two or more persistent network connections between the web server and the map server.