Method of and apparatus for operating a client/server computer network
First Claim
1. A server apparatus for accessing one or more common resources using a plurality of server processes to which client service requests are assigned, said server apparatus comprisingmeans for receiving an unassigned client service request requesting access to one of said common resources andmeans, responsive to a workload indication from each server process, each workload indication being less than a maximum workload for that server process, for assigning said unassigned received client service request to a server process having a workload indication which is less than the workload indication of all other server processes.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A server of a client/server network uses server processes to access shared server resources in response to service requests from client computers connected to the network. The server uses a measured workload indication to assign a received client service request to a server process. In one embodiment the measured workload indication is determined in response to an input from the server'"'"'s administrator specifying the number of clients (N) which may request service from the server. Using the number N, the server accesses a predefined table to determine the number of clients that may be assigned to each process. In another embodiment, a busy indicator provides a measured workload indication for each active process. The server uses the busy indicator to assign a new client service request to the least busy process.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A server apparatus for accessing one or more common resources using a plurality of server processes to which client service requests are assigned, said server apparatus comprising
means for receiving an unassigned client service request requesting access to one of said common resources and means, responsive to a workload indication from each server process, each workload indication being less than a maximum workload for that server process, for assigning said unassigned received client service request to a server process having a workload indication which is less than the workload indication of all other server processes.
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16. A server apparatus for accessing one or more common resources using a plurality of server processes to which client service requests are assigned, said server apparatus comprising
table means, including a plurality of different predetermined workload indicator ranges, each range specifying a lower and an upper limit on how many client service requests can be assigned to each server process, means for receiving an unassigned client service request requesting access to one of said common resources, means, responsive to a server apparatus determined total number of client service requests, for accessing said table means to select in which range said total number of client service requests lies and thus determines, for the selected range, the number of client service requests or workload that can be assigned to each server process and means, responsive to the selected range and a workload indicator for each server process, each workload indicator being less than the upper limit of said selected range, for assigning said unassigned received client service request to a server process having a workload indicator which is less than the workload indicator of all other server processes.
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17. A computer network comprising
a server apparatus, a plurality of client apparatuses connected to said server apparatus, said server apparatus including one or more common resources which can be accessed by a client apparatus using one of a plurality of server processes activated by said server apparatus, said server apparatus comprising means for receiving an unassigned client service request requesting access to one of said common resources and means, responsive to a workload indication from each server process, each workload indication being less than a maximum workload for each server process, for assigning said unassigned received client service request to a server process having a workload indication which is less than the workload indication of all other server processes.
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19. A computer network comprising
a server apparatus, a plurality of client apparatuses connected to said server apparatus, said server apparatus including one or more common resources which can be accessed by a client apparatus using one of a plurality of server processes activated by said server apparatus, said server apparatus comprising table means including a plurality of different predetermined workload indicator ranges, each range specifying a lower and an upper limit on how many client service requests can be assigned to each server process, means for receiving an unassigned client service request requesting access to one of said common resources, means, responsive to a server apparatus determined total number of client service requests, for accessing said table means to select in which range said total number of client service requests lies and thus the number of client service requests or workload that can be assigned to each server process, and means, responsive to the selected workload indicator range and a workload indicator from each server process, each workload indicator being less than the upper limit of said selected workload indicator range, for assigning said unassigned received client service request to a server process having a workload indicator which is less than the workload indicator of all other server processes.
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20. In a server apparatus, a method of accessing one or more common resources using a plurality of server processes to which client service requests are assigned, said method comprising the steps of
at said server apparatus measuring a workload indication of each server process receiving an unassigned client service request requesting access to one of said common resources by way of one of said plurality of server processes and assigning, in response to a workload indication from each server process which is less than a maximum workload for each server process, said unassigned received client service request to a server process having a workload indication which is less than the workload indication of all other server processes.
Specification