Abstract: A clustered server network for receiving, storing and retrieving usenet articles. The clustered server network includes various sets of clustered servers. One set of clustered servers receives articles from peer usenet networks, while another set of clustered servers stores only header information for each unique article. A third set of clustered servers may be dedicated to storing, in a redundant fashion, each unique article. The articles are stored based on a deterministic calculation so that each unique article stored is found in at least one particular server(s). The redundant storage of each unique article eliminates a need for a backend server cluster for storing one copy of every article. A usenet system provides for continuous operation even if any server in any cluster becomes non-operational. A server rebuild function is provided in the usenet system.

Abstract: Smart-Man's Layer 4 (SML4) is a process in which the TCP/IP stack is manipulated on a set of computer systems to enable Layer-4 switching (load balancing and failover) of a set of IP Addresses without the use of an expensive dedicated, specialized Layer-4 switch dedicated to performing the Layer-4 switching. SML4 supports any application which uses TCP stream sockets for data transfer. SML4 requires no special or non-standard handling of packets on the network switches the systems are connected to.

Abstract: A cluster of data caching servers that provide UseNet service to customers. The cluster of data caching servers cache articles and data requested by customers after retrieving the articles and data from a backend server/server farm. The cluster of data caching servers are adapted to share their cache memories with the other clustered servers in the cluster such that, if an article is requested by a client and the article has already been stored in one of the clustered server's cache memories, there is no requirement to retrieve all the requested article from the backend server.