Abstract: A method and system for storing data in a hash table of a computer system. A hash function specifies a storage location of the hash table for data associated with a given key. But instead of storing the key in this location, a smaller value, denoted a specification value is used. Specification values are produced via a specification function that mathematically captures the information lost by the hashing function when the key is mapped to the hash address. As a result, no two keys can have equal specification values and equal hash values. When examining the data stored at any given hash address, the invention recreates the key's specification value and compares it with the stored specification value. When the compared values are equal, the object is identified. Thus, the invention conclusively establishes whether the data is associated with a given key without storing the key in the hash table.

Abstract: Packets from multiple packet streams are transmitted in an output stream having substantially equally spaced packets using a scheduler which spaces the packets based upon the input stream speeds of the various input streams as well as the bandwidth of the transmission channel. Such a scheduler advantageously spaces the packets so that the maximum distance between two filled slots is never more than twice the minimum distance between any two filled slots. Such a system also advantageously allows the computation of the slot locations to be precomputed when the slots are initially allocated to streams, thereby allowing the scheduler to efficiently compute slot locations while the scheduler is receiving the input streams.

Abstract: The present invention is a system and method for providing server selection for mirrored sites. In one embodiment, a user requests an address via a local name service (LNS), and the local name service requests the address from a server, examples of which include an authoritative name server, and a Optimizer Name Server (ONS). If the ONS has already calculated a best route which applies to this user, and a predetermined time applying to the best route has not yet expired, then the ONS replies to the user with the best route server. In one embodiment, the best route is determined by having the ONS server request from all the mirrored servers the round trip time to the LNS. This is accomplished by having each mirrored server respond to the LNS with a name query. In response, the LNS replies with an error message. The round trip time is measured from the time the name query was sent to the time the error message was received. Each mirrored server then sends the measured round trip time to the ONS.