Patent ID: 7716523

Claim:
A system comprising: a first set of one or more server computers operable to execute a first instance of request management software, a first instance of transaction management software, and a first instance of application software; wherein the first instance of request management software is executable to receive a request from a client computer and forward the request to the first instance of transaction management software; wherein the first instance of transaction management software is executable to coordinate a transaction in response to the request, wherein coordinating the transaction comprises: forwarding the request to the first instance of application software, wherein the first instance of application software includes a first plurality of executable software components which each maintain a respective portion of state information, wherein each of the software components is executable to store a respective portion of change information in response to the request; and initiate a commit operation according to a commit protocol, wherein the first plurality of software components and the first instance of request management software act as participants in the commit operation, wherein the commit protocol enables the first plurality of software components to attempt to atomically commit their respective portions of change information to their corresponding portions of state information and enables the first instance of request management software to perform a selected action depending upon whether the portions of change information are successfully committed.