Method and an apparatus to record web transactions using a proxy server

• US 20080288581A1
• Filed: 05/18/2007
• Published: 11/20/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Schneider, James Paul
• Granted Patent: US 7,970,857 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching

Abstract

Some embodiments of a method and an apparatus to record web transactions in a proxy server have been presented. In one embodiment, responses and requests are routed between a web server and a client via a proxy server communicatively coupled between the web server and the client during a web transaction. The proxy server further records transaction information of the web transaction.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

routing responses and requests between a web server and a client via a proxy server communicatively coupled between the web server and the client during a web transaction; and

recording transaction information of the web transaction using the proxy server.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

playing back the web transaction between the web server and the client based on the transaction information recorded.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein recording the transaction information using the proxy server comprises:

using the proxy server to record data input by a user at the client.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a user interface to allow a user of the client to initiate and to terminate recording of the transaction information.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the transaction information in a storage device within the proxy server.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the transaction information in a database managed by a database server coupled to the proxy server.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the transaction information comprises credentials of a user of the client.

8. A proxy server comprising:

a routing module to route responses and requests between a web server and a client communicatively coupled to the proxy server via a network during a web transaction; and

a transaction recording module to record transaction information of the web transaction.

9. The proxy server of claim 8, further comprising:

a playback module to play back the web transaction between the web server and the client based on the transaction information recorded.

10. The proxy server of claim 8, wherein the transaction information comprises data input by a user at the client.

11. The proxy server of claim 8, further comprising:

a user interface module to generate a user interface to allow a user of the client to initiate and to terminate recording of the transaction information.

12. The proxy server of claim 8, further comprising:

a storage device to store the transaction information.

13. The proxy server of claim 8, wherein the transaction information includes addresses of web proxy server pages accessed by the client.

14. The proxy server of claim 8, further comprising:

a network interface to communicatively couple to the network.

15. A system comprising the proxy server of claim 8, further comprising the web server.

16. A system comprising the proxy server of claim 8, further comprising a database server communicatively coupled to the proxy server, to manage a database, wherein the proxy server sends the transaction information to the database server to store the transaction information in the database.

17. A machine-readable medium that provides instructions that, if executed by a processor, will cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

routing responses and requests between a web server and a client via a proxy server communicatively coupled between the web server and the client during a web transaction; and

recording transaction information of the web transaction using the proxy server.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising:

playing back the web transaction between the web server and the client based on the transaction information recorded.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein recording the transaction information using the proxy server comprises:

using the proxy server to record data input by a user at the client.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising:

generating a user interface to allow a user of the client to initiate and to terminate recording of the transaction information.

21. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising:

storing the transaction information in a storage device within the proxy server.

22. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising:

storing the transaction information in a database managed by a database server coupled to the proxy server.

23. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the transaction information comprises credentials of a user of the client.