Abstract: The invention interconnects stacks executing the same protocol in the same node by means of a software implemented input/output device, thereby eliminating the need for physical resources otherwise required for data communication between the stacks. First and second connection objects are built in the virtual device in association with the first and second stacks, respectively. An association is also built between the first and second connection objects, thereby enabling communication between the stacks via the first and second connection objects.

Abstract: Client's (106-1-106-N, 107-1-107-M) on local area networks (102, 103) making requests to hot sites, which are connected on a wide area network (100) such as the Internet, are redirected through one of a possible plurality of different redirectors (101, 103) to one of a possible plurality of caching servers (S1, S2, S3), which each have responsibility for mapping one or more of the hot sites. Each request is probabilistically directed by one of the redirectors to one of the caching servers that map the requested hot site in accordance with weights that are determined for that redirector-hot site pair so as to minimize the average delay that all client requests across the network will encounter in making requests to all the cached hot sites.

Abstract: A bin based method for determining a group size estimate for applications utilizing connectionless networks. The method places an indicator of group participants who match the key under a mask into bins, where each bin corresponding to the number of bits in the mask used to determine the match. When the number of bits in the mask is increased from m to m+1, all of the participant indicators in bin m are moved into bin m+1. When the number of bits in the mask decreases from m+1 to m, however, no participant indicators are moved. When a refresh packet is received from a particular participant whose indicator is in bin k, but the current mask is m bits, for k>m., the indicator for that particular participant is moved from bin k to bin m.