US 6078960

Patent Overview — US 6,078,960 A

Title: Client-side load-balancing in client server network
Inventor: Clinton L. Ballard
Original Assignee: Acceleration Software International Corp. (current assignee listed as Adeia Technologies Inc)
Application No.: US 09/108,139
Priority/Filing Date: 1998-07-03
Grant/Publication Date: 2000-06-20
Status: Expired – Lifetime (anticipated expiration 2018-07-03, per the supplied text)

Purpose. The invention addresses balancing client demand across a plurality of network server computers that each store a common set of data. Rather than balancing at the server side (e.g., a hardware device that accepts requests to one address and forwards them to redundant servers), load balancing is achieved "at the client side of the network connection in software."

Plain-language scope (from the definitions section). Each client computer receives a load balance list enumerating the varying addresses of multiple server computers holding the same data. The client executes a server selection function to choose which server to access, unless a prior selection was already made for the session, day, or other unit of time/access. The selection function allocates load per server, by a load percentage that may be specified in the list or derived by the selection function. Each client receives the same list. A system administrator can update the list — e.g., removing a failed or maintained server and reapportioning load — and download it to operational servers, so clients re-obtaining the list receive the update. A client that finds a server non-responsive removes it from its local list, diverting traffic to functioning servers. The list may be any length, server count may vary, and servers can be added or removed easily. An optional "emergency list" of servers is used if all servers on the load balance list are deemed non-responsive; an advantage noted is that a vendor may own the lines and addresses for the emergency-list servers.

Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US6078960/en

What the excerpt does not establish. It does not provide the claims, full specification, drawings, cited prior art, or prosecution history. It does not establish claim scope, validity, enforceability, or the accuracy of the listed assignees or legal status (the source itself states legal status is an assumption, not a legal conclusion). Any omitted text is not summarized here.