US Patent 7383329 Distributed cache for state transfer operations

A network arrangement that employs a cache having copies distributed among a plurality of different locations. The cache stores state information for a session with any of the server devices so that it is accessible to at least one other server device. Using this arrangement, when a client device switches from a connection with a first server device to a connection with a second server device, the second server device can retrieve state information from the cache corresponding to the session between the client device and the first server device. The second server device can then use the retrieved state information to accept a session with the client device.