Abstract: Internet Protocol (IP) address assignment information is collected from Address Allocation Tables (AATs) of a plurality of IP address assigning registrars. The information is processed and stored into one or more data structures. The information is accessed to determine a proximity measure for any two given IP addresses. In one embodiment, the proximity determination includes the determination of superblock memberships of the IP addresses, comparison of the assigning registrars, as well as the location countries of the IP addresses. In one embodiment, the proximity detection is applied to locating IP addresses of peer providers of a resource. In one embodiment, Autonomous System (AS) numbers and IP addresses for a plurality of peer providers for a plurality of resources are also collected and organized into one or more data structures; this organized information of the peer providers is also used in locating the closest peer providers of a resource in terms of network topology.

Abstract: A communication protocol service in support of TCP based communication is modified to improve the operational efficiency of a server for a particular type of client-server application. The service is modified to support connection pools and connection groups within the connection pools, to enable connections with clients to be grouped and share a common file descriptor. The service is provided with an API to allow an application server to create the connection pools, connection groups and connections. The API also include receive and send services adapted to support the connection pool and connection group architecture, and to allow explicit acknowledgement of received transmissions under control of the application server. Further, in various embodiments, the buffering architecture of the service, as well as acknowledgement of request packets by the service are also modified.

Abstract: Internet Protocol (IP) address assignment information is collected from Address Allocation Tables (AATs) of a plurality of IP address assigning registrars. The information is processed and stored into one or more data structures. The information is accessed to determine a proximity measure for any two given IP addresses. In one embodiment, the proximity determination includes the determination of superblock memberships of the IP addresses, comparison of the assigning registrars, as well as the location countries of the IP addresses. In one embodiment, the proximity detection is applied to locating IP addresses of peer providers of a resource. In one embodiment, Autonomous System (AS) numbers and IP addresses for a plurality of peer providers for a plurality of resources are also collected and organized into one or more data structures; this organized information of the peer providers is also used in locating the closest peer providers of a resource in terms of network topology.