Patent ID: 6996614

Claim:
A method for allocating resources of a service provider to a plurality of users of the service provider in a data processing system wherein the resources are maintained in a resource pool when not allocated to a user and comprise a plurality of first and second resources, each second resource being associated with a first resource for use together with the associated first resource, and wherein, to invoke performance of a service by the service provider, a user issues a first resource request, requesting a first resource, one or more second resource requests, requesting one or more second resources, and, following receipt of the requested resources, issues a service request including the received first resource and at least one received second resource, requesting performance of the service, the method comprising steps of: dispensing dummy resources to a user in response to the first and second resource requests from the user, said first resource comprising connection handles, each identifying a connection between the service provider and a user, said second resources comprising object handles, each identifying an object to be used by the service provider in performance of a service for the associated connection, each dummy resource representing a resource requested by the user; and in response to the service request from the user, allocating corresponding resources from the resource pool to dummy resources dispensed to the user.