Patent ID: 8826402

Claim:
A method of maintaining an Instant Message (IM) session, comprising: receiving at a first login server a login request associated with a client, wherein the login request includes client account information and a client security key, wherein the client security key is generated at the client; establishing the IM session and transferring Instant Messages between the client and the first login server, wherein establishing the IM session includes: verifying, by the first login server, the login request; and if the verification is successful, storing, by the first login server, a first set of property information of the client into a local memory, and sending to a remote information storage server the first set of property information comprising the client account information and a server key generated according to the client security key, wherein the server key is to be used to identify a login state associated with the client; and sending, by the first login server, an indicator indicating that verification is successful to the client, the indicator comprising the server key to the client; receiving an indication associated with an interruption in the transfer of the Instant Messages at a login allocation server; sending an address of a second login server from the login allocation server to the client; receiving at the second login server a reconnection request from the client; and in the event that the reconnection request is accepted by the second login server, exchanging Instant Messages between the client and the second login server.