Patent · US Expired

Arrangement for load sharing in computer networks

US6687731B1 · kind B1 · utility

93Cited by
13References
16Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 7, 2000
Grant dateFeb 3, 2004
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 7, 2020

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L67/1038
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The invention relates to an arrangement for load sharing in computer networks and, more exactly, an arrangement for distribution of traffic, for instance via Internet, from clients (1) to service suppliers who provide services from many servers. The invention makes possible distribution to one of a number of replicated servers. Suitable server is selected for instance on basis of available resources at the interface of the server, or less delay in the transmission. The invention results in better performance and reduced traffic by distribution of the traffic geographically and from a resource point of view. According to the invention, a number of replicated servers (5A-5E) belong to an anycast-group and each anycast-group is connected to a domain name server (2) which has the ability to select one of the replicated servers, so that a router (4) can establish a connection between the selected server and the service-requesting client computer. Each replicated server (5A-5E) can transmit a resource advertisement which contains information about available resources at the server in question, and about the link parameters of the server.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.