System and method for serving a web site from multiple servers

A method for serving web pages to a client in response to a client request specifying a network resource, the method comprising:

• providing an originating web server upon which the requested resource resides, the originating web server having a request interface for receiving requests and a response interface for sending responses to the requests;
• providing a front-end server;
• redirecting a client request addressed to the originating web server to the front-end server;
• using the front-end server to obtain at least some of the request-specified resources from the originating web server;
• augmenting the obtained resources using resources within the front-end server to generate a response to the client request;
• and
• communicating the augmented response from the front-end server to the client.

A web site comprising:

• an originating web server coupled to the network and executing software to access a first set of content and functionality in response to requests from a web client;
• a front-end server coupled to the network and executing software to access a second set of content and functionality in response to requests from the web client;
• a first communication channel supporting request and response communication between the web client and the front-end server;
• a second communication channel supporting communication between the front-end server and the originating web server;
• and
• means operating cooperatively between the originating web server and the front-end server for receiving requests for web pages from the web client and serving web pages to the requesting web client in response to the received requests.

A system for serving content from a plurality of network resources comprising:

• a first server that is an originating web server for a first set of resources;
• a second server that is an originating web server for a second set of resources;
• a request interface within the first server for receiving requests specifying the first server, the first server responding to the request by generating a response using the first set of resources and generating a request to the second server in order to use the second set of resources when generating the response;
• and
• a request interface within the second server for receiving requests specifying the second server, the second server responding to the request by generating a response using the second set of resources and generating a request to the first server in order to use the second set of resources when generating the response.

A method for serving content from a plurality of servers comprising:

• generating a request for content, the request being associated with a specified address;
• providing a server having the address specified in the request;
• directing the request to the server having the specified address and having at least a portion of the network resources specified in the request;
• causing the server to serve a first portion of the request from the server itself;
• and
• causing the server to serve a second portion of the request from a second tier web server.

A system for serving content from a plurality of network resources comprising:

• a first web server comprising a first set of resources and coupled to serve requests received from a first plurality of network appliances by accessing the first set of resources in response to requests generated by the first plurality of network appliance;
• a second web server comprising a second set of resources and coupled to serve requests from a second plurality of network appliances by accessing the second set of resources in response to requests generated by the second plurality of network appliances;
• and
• a communication channel between the first and second web servers such that a request received on the first web server for content of the second web server are served by causing the first web server to access the second web server to obtain the content and servicing the request from the first web server.

A system for serving web pages to a network client comprising:

• a network;
• an origin web server coupled to the network;
• a client coupled to the network and generating requests directed to the origin web server;
• a gateway machine in communication with the client, the gateway machine configured to receive requests from the client, obtain web pages from the origin web server in response to the received request, and serve the obtained pages to the client;
• means for detecting a busy condition in the origin server;
• means responsive to the busy condition for serving a page generated by the gateway machine in response to the client request.

A method for serving web pages to a network client comprising:

• generating requests from the network client, the requests specifying a network resource that is configured to generate a desired web page;
• routing the requests through a gateway machine that maintains a connection with the network resource;
• detecting a busy condition in the network resource;
• and
• serving an alternate page from the gateway machine to the network client in response to detecting a busy condition.

A system for serving web pages to a network client comprising:

• a network;
• an origin web server coupled to the network;
• a client coupled to the network;
• a gateway machine in communication with the client, the gateway machine configured to receive requests from the client, obtain web pages from the origin web server in response to the received request, and serve the obtained pages to the client;
• means for detecting when the origin server becomes unavailable;
• and
• means responsive to origin server becoming unavailable for serving an alternate page from the gateway machine to the client.

A system for caching network resources comprising:

• an origin web server operable to provide responses containing network resources in response to requests for the contained resources;
• an first intermediary server having a cache therein and coupled to receive the responses and to receive the requests for network resources;
• mechanisms within the first intermediary server for determining whether the requested network resources are within the cache;
• and
• mechanisms within the first intermediary server for serving the requested network resources from the cache when requested network resources are within the cache.

A method for serving web pages in response to requests from a network client, wherein the requests specify content desired by the user of the network client, the method comprising:

• providing a gateway server configured to receive requests specifying content;
• providing a plurality of network servers, at least one of the network servers housing the specified content, and at least one of the network servers housing alternative content;
• in response to a received request, generating requests in the gateway server to at least one of the network servers;
• in response to the request received from the gateway server, generating requests in the at least one network server to at least one other network server;
• serving a response from the gateway server, wherein the response includes content selected from the group consisting of specified content from the gateway server, specified content from one of the network servers, specified content from an origin server, alternate content from the gateway server, and alternate content from one of the network servers.