Method and system for providing image rich web pages from a computer system over a network

A computer readable medium containing program instructions for providing a web page that includes at least one embedded image from a computer system over a network, comprising:

• in response to receiving a request over the network to access the web page, determining whether a descriptor for the requested web page is stored in a session memory, wherein the descriptor includes information required to determine whether a requestor is authorized to access the web page and the at least one embedded image;
• if the descriptor is not stored in session memory, retrieving the descriptor corresponding to the web page from a database and storing the descriptor in session memory;
• and
• utilizing the descriptor to determine whether to return the web page, wherein additional database accesses are avoided for subsequent tasks requiring the descriptor.

A computer system coupled to a network comprising:

• a plurality of web pages each of which include at least one embedded image that corresponds to an image stored in the computer system;
• a database for storing a descriptor corresponding to each of the plurality of web pages, wherein the descriptor includes information required to determine whether a requestor is authorized to access the web page and the at least one embedded image;
• a session memory for temporarily storing data during a session;
• means for receiving a request over the network to access a web page;
• and
• a first application servlet for determining whether a descriptor for the requested web page is stored in a session memory, wherein if the descriptor is not stored in session memory, the first application servlet retrieves the descriptor corresponding to the requested web page from the database and stores the descriptor in session memory, and utilizes the descriptor to determine whether to return the web page.

A peer-to peer network comprising:

• a proxy server;
• a plurality of a peer servers coupled to the proxy server, wherein at least one of the plurality of peer servers includes:
• a plurality of web pages each of which include at least one embedded image that corresponds to an image stored in the computer system;
• a database for storing a descriptor corresponding to each of the plurality of web pages, wherein the descriptor includes information required to determine whether a requestor is authorized to access the web page and the at least one embedded image;
• a session memory for temporarily storing data during a session;
• and
• a first application servlet for managing a request to access a web page, wherein the proxy server receives the request to access a web page and routes the request to the appropriate peer server, and the first application servlet determines whether a descriptor for the requested web page is stored in the session memory, wherein if the descriptor is not stored in session memory, the first application servlet retrieves the descriptor corresponding to the requested web page from the database and stores the descriptor in session memory, and utilizes the descriptor to determine whether to return the web page.

A method for providing a web page that includes at least one embedded image from a computer system over a network, wherein the computer system includes a session memory and a database, the method comprising:

• in response to receiving a first request in a session to access the web page, retrieving from the database and storing in the session memory authorization information associated with the web page;
• reading the authorization information from session memory to determine whether a requestor has permission to access the web page;
• and
• retrieving the authorization information from session memory during a subsequent request in the session to access the web page, thereby improving performance by reducing the need to access the database.