Patent ID: 8578053

Claim:
A storage load balancing system for distributing a storage load, the storage load balancing system comprising: a plurality of clients each mapped to a logical IP address different from logical IP addresses of other clients; a storage unit including a plurality of nodes correlated with the logical IP addresses, the storage unit being configured to accept accesses to the plurality of nodes by using the logical IP addresses as a destination via a network and to alter a setting of the logical IP addresses in the storage unit according to patterns of the accesses to the plurality of nodes from each of the plurality of clients; wherein the plurality of nodes are accessed via the network by the plurality of clients by using the logical IP addresses assigned to the respective clients based on a correspondence between the assigned logical IP addresses and the plurality of nodes, the correspondence minimizing a processing cost of files accessed through the plurality of nodes, the logical IP addresses representing the storage unit to the plurality of clients, the storage unit further includes an IP address conversion part that changes the correspondence dynamically by changing a destination of at least one of the logical IP addresses to one of real IP addresses of the plurality of nodes, and that transmits the changed correspondence to the network and informs the plurality of clients that the real IP address corresponding to the at least one of the logical IP addresses has been changed; and wherein the storage unit further includes an assignment part that statically assigns the plurality of clients the respective logical IP addresses.