Abstract: A method of selecting one server (S1-S4) out of a server set for the purpose of requesting one or more service/s, for example related to an internet- and session-based application, each of the servers (S1-S4) of the server set being capable of supporting the service/s, whereby a status vector is maintained which comprises a timestamp value (t1-t4) indicating a point of time at which the status of the corresponding server (S1-S4) is determined, to improve over existing server selection policies in its ability to reduce transaction control times.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of providing a reliable server function in support of a service, such as internet-based application, the server function provided by a Server Pool (SP) with one or more Pool Elements (PE1, PE2), each of the Pool Elements (PE1, PE2) being capable of supporting the service/s. where the performance, reliability and availability of the server function is improved over the existing methods, by sending status information related to the operational status of at least one of the pool elements (PE1, PE2) from a name server (NS) to the pool user (PU).