Method and system for accessing network services

Abstract

A method and system for accessing network services. A client sends a request for a service. The request includes an address of the client. One or more resolvers receive the request for a service. The one or more resolvers determine at least one service location to return to the client based at least partially on the service requested and the address of the client. The at least one service location is then returned to the client. The service locations returned to the client may also be based on a policy, user preferences, client preferences, or client characteristics.

1 . A method for accessing a service, comprising: 
 (a) receiving, from a client a request for at least one service location that provides access to the service, wherein the request includes an address of the client;    (b) determining the at least one service location to return to the client based at least partially on the address; and    (c) returning the at least one service location to the client.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the at least one service location is also based on a health of the at least one service location.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request and the at least one service location that is returned are transported in a synchronous messaging system.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request and the at least one service location that is returned are transported in an asynchronous messaging system.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the health is collected by a network device that polls devices through which the service is accessible to determine the health of each service location.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining a geographical location of the client based on the address, wherein determining the at least one service location is also based on the geographical location of the client.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the at least one service location is also based on at least one of a plurality of policies associated with the client.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the plurality of policies include a set of rules associated with at least one of a cost of a service at a service location, a quality of a service at a service location, a speed of a service at a service location, a latency of a service at a service location, a bandwidth available for a service at a service location, traffic currently handled by a service at a service location, and a port number.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the at least one service location is also based on client characteristics.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request also includes client preferences and wherein determining the at least one service location is also based on the client preferences.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the client preferences include attributes of the service.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the attributes of the service include at least one of a cost, quality, and freshness of data of the service.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the client preferences include a plurality of weightings, each weighting associated with an attribute of the service.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request is a universal description, discovery, and integration (UDDI) request.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining a priority associated with the address.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the service location includes at least one of a network address, a path name, a port number, a network protocol, and an email address.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request includes information that identifies client preferences stored on a network device that provides the at least one service location to the client.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising performing a domain name service (DNS) lookup to obtain an internet protocol (IP) address of each service location before the at least one service location is returned to the client.  
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the client employs the at least one service location returned to access the service.  
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the network address is an internet protocol (IP) address.  
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising returning a score with each service location returned to the client.  
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the score is a vector value that includes two or more criteria and a value associated with each criteria.  
   
   
       23 . A method for accessing a service, comprising: 
 (a) receiving, from a client, a request for at least one service location that provides access to a service, wherein the request includes an address of the client;    (b) determining the at least one service location to return to the client based at least partially on the address and at least one client preference; and    (c) returning the at least one service location to the client.    
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein each client preference includes at least one of an attribute of the service and a delivery of the service.  
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the at least one client preference includes at least one of a cost, quality, and freshness of data of the service.  
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the client preference is specified by at least one of the client, an application executing on the client, and a user utilizing the client.  
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising accumulating client data and determining the at least one service location based on the client data.  
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising accumulating health data based on a health of the service executing at a service location and determining the at least one service location based on the health data.  
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising accumulating a policy that applies to the client and determining the at least one service based on the policy.  
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the policy relates to at least one of a cost, capacity, response time, bandwidth, quality, speed, and response time of the service  
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising returning a score with each service location returned to the client.  
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the score indicates a desirability of a service location, the score being based on a weighting factor corresponding to a criteria and a value representing data for the criteria.  
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the score is a vector value that includes two or more criteria and a value associated with each criteria.  
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 33 , further comprising selecting a service location based at least partially on the value associated with each criteria.  
   
   
       35 . An apparatus for mapping a request to a service, comprising: 
 (a) an interface arranged to receive requests from a plurality of clients, each request sent from one of the plurality of clients, each request including an address associated with the client that sent the request;    (b) a resolver coupled to the interface, wherein the resolver is arranged to perform actions including determining a set of one or more service locations to return to a requesting client based at least in part on the service and the address associated with the requesting client    
   
   
       36 . The apparatus of  claim 35 , wherein the resolver and the interface are integrated on a single server.  
   
   
       37 . The apparatus of  claim 35 , wherein the set of service locations returned is based at least partially on a client preference.  
   
   
       38 . The apparatus of  claim 35 , wherein the set of service locations returned is based at least partially on a plurality of policies.  
   
   
       39 . The apparatus of  claim 35 , wherein the resolver is further arranged to return a score associated with each returned service location.  
   
   
       40 . The apparatus of  claim 39 , wherein each score is a vector value that includes two or more criteria and a value associated with each criteria.  
   
   
       41 . An apparatus for resolving service requests, comprising: 
 (a) an interface arranged to receive requests from a plurality of clients, each request sent from one of the plurality of clients, each request including an address associated with the client that sent the request;    (b) means for resolving each request to at least one service location based at least in part on the service and the requesting client.    
   
   
       42 . The apparatus of  claim 41 , wherein the means for resolving each request to at least one service location is also based on client preferences.