Method and Apparatus for Resolving Domain Names of Persistent Web Resources

• US 20100235387A1
• Filed: 05/28/2010
• Published: 09/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Ong, Ping-Wen
• Granted Patent: US 8,402,010 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/769
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9566 URL specific, e.g. using aliases, detecting broken or misspelled links
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

A method and apparatus are disclosed for providing persistent storage of Web resources. Uniform Resource Locators (“URLs”) that identify Web resources are augmented to include a time stamp. A web browser and a web server are disclosed that accommodate a time stamp parameter and allow a user to refer to any Web address with a precise target date. The disclosed Web browser can optionally include a mechanism to facilitate the specification of the desired date and time, or the user can manually append the time stamp to the URL indicated in the “Location” window of the browser. The persistent Web servers (i) receive URLs containing a time stamp, (ii) extract the time stamp, (iii) retrieve the correct Web page from the archive, and (iv) return the requested page to the client. The persistent Web servers include a persistent archive for storing all of the versions of Web resources that will be persistently available to Web users. A persistent domain name server (PDNS) allows a user to refer to historical Web resources. The persistent domain name server (PDNS) utilizes the dated URL to determine where the historical information of a given company is located following a domain name change for the requested time period and translates the request to a new machine containing the historical information of the company.

Claims

1. A method for identifying a domain of an electronic document, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a request for said electronic document, said request including a requested time-stamp and a domain name, wherein said requested time-stamp indicates a time associated with a desired version of said electronic document and wherein said domain name is associated with a first domain for a first time period and a second domain for a second time period; and

identifying one of said first domain or said second domain utilizing a time indicated by said requested time-stamp.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said request includes an address identifying said electronic document.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said address is a Uniform Resource Locator (“

URL”

).

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein said Uniform Resource Locator (“

URL”

) has an associated request header for indicating said requested time stamp.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said request is specified using a browser.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein said requested time-stamp is a relative time-stamp.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of identifying an address of said electronic document utilizing said identified domain.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of updating one or more hyperlinks in said electronic document.

9. A system for identifying a domain of an electronic document, said system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor operatively coupled to said memory, said processor configured to;

receive a request for said electronic document, said request including a requested time-stamp and a domain name, wherein said requested time-stamp indicates a time associated with a desired version of said electronic document and wherein said domain name is associated with a first domain for a first time period and a second domain for a second time period; and

identify one of said first domain or said second domain utilizing a time indicated by said requested time-stamp.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein said request includes an address identifying said electronic document.

11. The system according to claim 9, wherein said address is a Uniform Resource Locator (“

URL”

).

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein said Uniform Resource Locator (“

URL”

) has an associated request header for indicating said requested time stamp.

13. The system according to claim 9, wherein said request is specified using a browser.

14. The system according to claim 9, wherein said requested time-stamp is a relative time-stamp.

15. The system according to claim 9, wherein said processor is further configured to identify an address of said electronic document utilizing said identified domain.

16. The system according to claim 9, wherein said processor is further configured to update one or more hyperlinks in said electronic document.

17. An article of manufacture for identifying a domain of an electronic document, said article of manufacture comprising:

a computer readable medium having computer readable program code means embodied thereon, said computer readable program code means comprising program code means for causing a computer to;

receive a request for said electronic document, said request including a requested time-stamp and a domain name, wherein said requested time-stamp indicates a time associated with a desired version of said electronic document and wherein said domain name is associated with a first domain for a first time period and a second domain for a second time period; and

identify one of said first domain or said second domain utilizing a time indicated by said requested time-stamp.