System and method for interacting with users over a communications network
First Claim
1. A system for interacting with end user terminals over a first communications network, the system comprising:
- a plurality of servers coupled to receive communication from the end user terminals over the first communications network;
an interface disposed between the plurality of servers and end user terminals, the interface being operative to receive requests from the end user terminals and to distribute the requests to the plurality of servers;
a second communication network coupled to provide communication between the servers in the plurality of servers;
a first computer program segment resident at a first one of the plurality of servers, wherein said program;
receives a first request from an end user terminal,processes the first request, andbroadcasts data regarding the first request to a second one of the plurality of servers,a second computer program segment resident in the second one of the plurality of servers, wherein said second program;
stores the data regarding the first request broadcast from the first one of the plurality of servers in a local memory,receives a second request from the end user terminal,retrieves from the local memory the data regarding the first request for processing the second request; and
processes the second request based on the retrieved data,wherein, the first and second ones of the plurality of servers respectively receiving the first and second requests are selected based on a selection mechanism, the selection mechanism being configured to substantially evenly distribute request processing burdens amongst the plurality of servers.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for efficiently and quickly handling content and transaction requests from various users at respective end terminals. According to embodiments of the invention, plural servers are provided at the web site to randomly receive requests from users over a communications network, such as the Internet. Each server contains a memory, such as a cache or disk storage process, that contains a copy of all data contained on every other server. When a request comes in to one of the servers, in addition to processing the request, that server broadcasts data corresponding to the request to the other servers, which are programmed to store the same request data in their respective local memories. Such broadcasts may be preferably carried out over a back-end, private network.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A system for interacting with end user terminals over a first communications network, the system comprising:
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a plurality of servers coupled to receive communication from the end user terminals over the first communications network; an interface disposed between the plurality of servers and end user terminals, the interface being operative to receive requests from the end user terminals and to distribute the requests to the plurality of servers; a second communication network coupled to provide communication between the servers in the plurality of servers; a first computer program segment resident at a first one of the plurality of servers, wherein said program; receives a first request from an end user terminal, processes the first request, and broadcasts data regarding the first request to a second one of the plurality of servers, a second computer program segment resident in the second one of the plurality of servers, wherein said second program; stores the data regarding the first request broadcast from the first one of the plurality of servers in a local memory, receives a second request from the end user terminal, retrieves from the local memory the data regarding the first request for processing the second request; and processes the second request based on the retrieved data, wherein, the first and second ones of the plurality of servers respectively receiving the first and second requests are selected based on a selection mechanism, the selection mechanism being configured to substantially evenly distribute request processing burdens amongst the plurality of servers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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15. A method of interacting with user terminals over a communications network comprising:
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receiving a first request from a user terminal; allocating the first request to a first server selected according to a selection mechanism, the selection mechanism being configured to substantially evenly distribute request processing burdens amongst the plurality of servers; processing the first request at the first server; transmitting data relating to the first request to at least a second server; storing the data in a local memory of the second server; receiving a second request from the user terminal; allocating the second request to a second server selected according to the selection mechanism; retrieving by the second server from the local memory the data relating to the first request for processing the second request; and processing the second request by the second server based on the retrieved data. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A system for interacting with end user terminals over a communications network, the system comprising:
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plural servers adapted for communication with the respective terminals over the communications network, wherein the servers are connected for communication with the other respective servers; an interface connected to the respective servers and operative to receive requests from the user terminals and to route the requests to the respective servers; and wherein a first of the plural servers is programmed to receive a first request from a particular end user terminal, process the first request, and broadcast data regarding the first request to a second one of the plural servers, and wherein the second one of the plural servers is programmed to store the broadcast data in a local memory, receive a second request from the end user terminal, retrieve from the local memory the data regarding the first request for processing the second request, and process the second request based on the retrieved data, and wherein the first and second ones of the plurality of servers respectively receiving the first and second requests are selected based on a selection mechanism, the selection mechanism being configured to substantially evenly distribute request processing burdens amongst the plurality of servers. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification