HTTP redirector

• US 20020023159A1
• Filed: 04/16/2001
• Published: 02/21/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sons of Innovation LLC
• Original Assignee: Circadence Corporation
• Inventors: Plumb, Marc, Wilson, Glenn Sydney, Kouts, Michael, Vange, Mark, Chekhovtsov, Alexandr
• Granted Patent: US 7,143,195 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/228
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/5021 Priority
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5027 the resource being a machine, e.g. CPUs, Servers, Terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/505 considering the load
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5055 considering software capabilities, i.e. software resources associated or available to the machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5088 involving task migration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/14 Routing performance; Theoretical aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/193 at the transport layer, e.g. TCP related
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/24 Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0272 Virtual private networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1408 by monitoring network traffic monitoring network traffic per se H04L43/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1416 Event detection, e.g. attack signature detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1458 Denial of Service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10015 Access to distributed or replicated servers, e.g. using brokers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/101 : based on network conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1021 : based on client or server locations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1029 : using data related to the state of servers by a load balancer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1031 : Controlling of the operation of servers by a load balancer, e.g. adding or removing servers that serve requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1034 : Reaction to server failures by a load balancer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/142 : Managing session states for stateless protocols; Signalling session states; State transitions; Keeping-state mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 : Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/561 : Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/563 : Data redirection of data network streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 : Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 : Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 : Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 : Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5682 : Policies or rules for updating, deleting or replacing the stored data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/61 : taking into account QoS or priority requirements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 : Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 : in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 : Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 : Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 : Object-oriented database structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 : Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A system and method for managing state information between processes in different domains, and, more particularly, to software, systems and methods for determining and updating state information using hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) cookies. A state management server manages priority information based on the priority of content requested by a user agent from a number of different domains. In a preferred embodiment, domain-specific state information is collected by a plurality of front-ends operating in dynamically assigned domains, and reported to the state management server which operates in a statically assigned domain. Preferably, the state management server causes the global priority information to be stored on a client device, such as a computer, in the form of a global cookie.

Claims

1. A system for exchanging domain-specific state information with a plurality of user agents, the system comprising:

an intermediary computer having an interface for communicating with user agents over a network, the intermediary computer having a first process running within a dynamically assigned domain and a second process running within a statically assigned domain.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the first process comprises methods for converting domain-specific state information associated with the dynamically assigned domain into a parameter and communicating the parameter to the second process.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the second process includes methods for receiving domain-specific state information associated with the dynamically assigned domain as a parameter.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the second process includes methods for receiving domain-specific state information associated with the statically assigned domain.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the second process includes methods for combining the domain-specific state information associated with the dynamically assigned domain with the domain-specific state information associated with the statically assigned domain to develop cross-domain state information.

6. The system of claim 4 wherein the second process includes methods for storing the cross-domain state information as a cookie within the statically assigned domain in the user agent.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the statically defined domain is associated with an explicit web server.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the statically defined domain is associated with an implicit web server.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the implicit web server is implemented at the same network address as the first process.

10. The system of claim 2, wherein the methods for communicating the parameter further comprise methods for sending an HTTP redirect request to the user agent wherein the redirect request includes an identification of the statically assigned domain, the parameterized domain-specific state information, and a parameter indicating the dynamically assigned domain.

11. The system of claim 2 further comprising methods within the first processes operable to read the domain-specific state information to determine based at least in part on the domain-specific state information when to communicate the domain-specific state information to the second process.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising updating the global cookie after receiving a predetermined number of requests from the user agent to the first domain.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the act of communicating the parameter comprises:

generating a redirection command specifying the second domain, the redirection command including the parameter;

transmitting the redirection command;

causing the user agent to resolve the second domain to determine a network address of a server in the second domain; and

causing the user agent to generate a redirected request to the resolved network address, the redirected request including the parameter.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the act of communicating the parameter comprises:

generating a redirection command specifying the second domain and a network address of a server in the second domain, the redirection command including the parameter;

transmitting the redirection command; and

causing the user agent to generate a redirected request to the network address specified in the redirection command, the redirection command including the parameter.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the act of accessing the domain-specific cookie comprises the acts:

determining a priority associated with content identified by the user request;

modifying a credits value based on the determined priority; and

modifying a request counter with each explicitly requested data object.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the act of updating the global cookie comprises the acts:

computing a new value of the global cookie wherein the new value is based upon a prior value of the global cookie combined with the domain-specific state information communicated in the parameter; and

resetting the value of the domain-specific state information; and

communicating the reset domain-specific state information as a parameter in a redirection request from the second domain to the user agent.

12. A method for exchanging cookies between processes in different domains using a user agent as an intermediary, the method comprising the acts:

identifying a domain-specific cookie in a user request to a first process in a first domain;

accessing the domain-specific cookie;

converting the domain-specific cookie into a parameter;

communicating the parameter with a second process in a second domain;

updating a global cookie using the second process; and

storing the global cookie in the user agent.