JPH11175471A - Method and device for rewriting url, and medium recorded with url re-writable program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently acquire resources through an appropriate relay server by rewritting a uniform resource locator(URL) into an access path by a rewritting server, and acquiring resource with an optimum path according to each information. SOLUTION: If there is access path information that corresponds to a URL, a URL rewrite processing part 1 rewrites an appropriate access path from the access path information and performs elimination. A URL write requesting part 7 selects what is appropriate from the access path and returns it to a user and a program 9. An access path information collecting part 3 regularly communicates with another access path information collector 6, a URL rewriting device 8, a mirror server 10, a relay server 11 and a cache server 12 and collects access path information. An access path preserving part 2 performs ordering and selection of an access path from received access path information, information of a retrieval frequency of the part 1, retrieves the access path information and answers an appropriate access path.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information access method and apparatus constituted by a single computer system, a computer system composed of a plurality of computers connected via a network, or a computer system connected to the Internet. The present invention relates to a specifier (hereinafter referred to as a URL) rewriting method and apparatus, and a medium on which a URL rewriting program is recorded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a single computer, a plurality of computer systems connected via a network, or a computer system connected to the Internet, the WWW (World
In information exchange services such as wide Web) and FTP (File Transfer Protocol), URLs (Uniform Resource
Locator) by using a resource specifier called text, voice, still image, moving image, etc. held by a single computer, another computer connected via a network, or another computer connected to the Internet. All information and data, that is, resources are specified, and a user or a program can refer to an arbitrary resource by using the specifier.

[0003] The URL includes a service type, a server name, and information on a location of a resource on the server in the expression of the URL. In accessing information and data using a URL, a server for resources (information and data), a client for accessing the resources, a computer such as a relay server for relaying resources between both the server and the client, and a program Or the user etc.
By directly extracting the service type, server name, and relative path from the URL expression and accessing the server with the specified service type, it is possible to access resources.

[0004] In a single computer, a computer system connected via a network, or a computer system connected via the Internet, copying of resources is performed in order to efficiently access resources held by computers on the computer or on the network. A mirror server that copies in advance from the original resource server to a single computer or to another computer connected via a network, or a resource once obtained is connected to a single computer or via a network On other computers, functions such as a cache server that holds data for a while are widely used.

[0005] In addition, for various purposes such as accessing resources through a plurality of different routes, changing resources to be transferred, and passing resources over a firewall, the server and the client or user are required to access the resources. It is also widely practiced to install a relay server that relays resources in between, and to transmit resources via the relay server.

As a method of notifying the names of a plurality of mirror servers, cache servers, and relay servers, URN, Round-robin DNS, Local Directory, etc.
ctor / Distributed Director, Proxy Automatic Con
Techniques such as figuration are currently used.

[0007] The URN gives a unique identifier that does not depend on the position of the resource. For a resource specifier represented by the URN, the server of the resource can be known (R. Moats, URN). Syntax, RFC: 2141, May,
1997).

[0008] Round-robin DNS can distribute the load between mirrors and caches by sequentially returning the addresses of a plurality of servers to the server name obtained from the resource specifier (R. Damiel and M. Mealling,
Resolution of Uniform Resource Identifiers us
ing the Domain Name System, RFC: 2168, June, 1
997 and P. Mockapetris, DOMAIN NAMES-CONCEPT
S AND FACILITIES, STD: 13 Domain Name System,
also RFC 1034, NOV., 1987). Local Direct
or / Distributed Director distributes the load of access to multiple mirror servers and notifies nearby mirror servers. It can return an appropriate host address to the host name obtained from the URL. Yes (CISCO D
istri- buted Director (White Paper), http: //www.c
isco.com/wrap/public/75/distrir/dd_rg.pdf and CISCO
Local Director (White Paper), http: //www.cisc
o.com/warp/public/751/lodir/lodir_rg.pdf).

The Proxy Automatic Configuration can switch a relay server to be used in accordance with a character string of a URL by reading a setting program when a browser is started or specified by a user (Ari Luo).
tonen, Navigator ProxyAuto-Config File Format,
http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/2.0/relnotes/
demo /proxy-live.html).

[0010]

An information designator (UR)
In order to efficiently obtain the resource pointed to from L), the most important problem is to use an appropriate server among a plurality of mirror servers, relay servers, and cache servers.

To this end, the mirror server can access the server closest to the client, the relay server can access the relay server closest to the resource server, and the cache server can access the cache server that temporarily holds the resource. is necessary.

In the conventional method, it is possible to notify the names of a plurality of mirror servers whose arrangement is determined in advance, and to notify the names and addresses of nearby servers from among them. Mirror servers that appear later in the game were out of scope.

In the relay server and the cache server, it is possible to notify a plurality of relay servers and the names of the cache servers and the like, but it is necessary to notify the relay server closest to the resource server among the relay servers. Also, it was not possible to notify the cache server that temporarily holds the cache.

Further, a conventional resource specifier (UR
In L), the type of service, the server name, and the location of the resource in the server could be expressed collectively, but the type of service is limited and new services cannot be expanded. Was.

[0015]

[MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS] A plurality of mirror servers,
To access an appropriate server from the cache server and the relay server, a resource specifier (URL)
In response to this, a specifier that represents an appropriate means for accessing the specified resource, that is, "information on any of the mirror server, relay server, or cache server, service type, and resource It is necessary to rewrite the location and a designator (referred to as an access path) that expresses auxiliary information such as cost related to the resource.

That is, the rewriting server that collects the access path to the URL and the characteristic information such as the transfer speed and the data type related to the access path in advance or when necessary, receives the URL received from the user or the program.
Is rewritten into an appropriate access path, and the user, the program, etc. acquire resources through an optimal path according to the information of the access path,
3 and 5 are realized.

In addition, for a character string of a URL expressing a new service, a server name providing the service,
A server having a function of rewriting a service type, a service in the server, and a specifier representing a location of a resource, etc., rewrites a URL received from a user or a program and returns the URL. Claims 2, 4, and 6 are realized by enjoying a new service according to the information.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to access a resource specified by a URL by a user or a program through an appropriate mirror server, a cache server, or a relay server. Become.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to freely expand a URL, express a new service, and enjoy the benefits of a new service by using the expanded URL for a user or a program. .

[0020]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.

The URL rewriting device according to the present invention comprises a URL rewriting processing section 1, an access path information storage section 2, an access path information collecting section 3, networks 4, 5, an access path information collecting section 6, a URL rewriting section, It comprises a request unit 7. An embodiment of the present invention, as shown,
In addition to the functional units constituting the RL rewriting device, a user,
A program 9, a plurality of other URL rewriting devices 8 via the network 5, a mirror server 10,
It is composed of a relay server 11 and a cache server 12.

Next, a URL rewriting method and apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail using the above configuration.

URL specified by user or program 9
Is passed from the URL rewriting request unit 7 to the URL rewriting processing unit 1 via the network 4. The URL rewriting processing unit 1 passes the access path information corresponding to the received URL to the access path information storage unit 2 for searching.

If the corresponding access path information exists, the URL rewriting processing unit 1 rewrites the access path information to an appropriate access path from the corresponding access path information, deletes unnecessary access paths as necessary, and rewrites the information. The access path is returned to the URL rewriting request unit 7 via the network 4. The URL rewriting request unit 7 selects an appropriate access path from the received access paths as necessary and returns it to the user or the program 9.

If there is no corresponding access path information, the URL rewriting processing unit 1 requests the access path information collecting unit 3 to collect the access path information as needed. The access path information collecting unit 3 inquires of the access path information collector 6, another URL rewriting device 8, the mirror server 10, the relay server 11, the cache server 12, and the like via the network 5 to access the access path information. To collect. Then, when the access path information corresponding to the URL is found, the URL rewriting processing unit 1 rewrites the access path information to the appropriate access path from the corresponding access path information, as in the case where the access path information exists. Then, unnecessary access paths are deleted, and the rewritten access paths are returned to the URL rewriting request unit 7 via the network 4. The URL rewriting request unit 7 selects an appropriate access path from the received access paths as necessary and returns it to the user or the program 9.

The access path information collecting unit 3 is continually connected to another access path information collecting unit 6, a URL rewriting device 8, and a mirror server 1 via the network 5.
0, and communicates with the relay server 11, the cache server 12, and the like to collect access path information. The collected access path information is sent to the URL via the network 5.
The information is stored in the access path information storage unit 2 via the access path information collection unit 3 of the rewriting device.

The access path information storage unit 2 stores the access path information and UR received from the access path information collection unit 3.
Based on information such as the search frequency of the L rewrite processing unit 1, the access paths are appropriately ordered and sorted, and the access path information held in response to the search request of the URL rewrite processing unit 1 is searched, and an appropriate access path is determined. By answering, claims 1, 3, and 5 are realized.

The access path information storage unit 2 stores the UR
Claims 2 and 4, wherein the access path information for the extension of L or the like is held in advance, the access path information to be held is searched according to the search request of the URL rewriting processing unit 1, and an appropriate access path is answered. 6 is realized.

The access path information collecting section 3 constantly communicates with another URL rewriting device 8, exchanges information of the access paths held by each other, and updates the access path information of the access path information storage section 2.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the access path information stored in the access path information storage unit 2. The set of access path information 13 includes the number 14 of access paths, a URL pattern 15 represented by a regular expression or the like, and server information 16.
, Service information 17, resource location 18, auxiliary information 19 such as cost and characteristics, and access right 20. The access path information storage unit 2 checks whether the URL received from the URL rewriting processing unit 1 matches the pattern 15, and returns the matched access path information to the rewriting processing unit 1. URL rewriting processor 1
Selects the necessary and appropriate access path information 13 in consideration of the auxiliary information 19 and the information of the access right 20 in the received access path information, and sends the access path information 13 to the rewrite request unit 7.

Next, the URL rewriting program will be described. The URL rewriting program is a processing program for the rewriting server to collect in advance or when necessary an access path to the URL and specific information including a transfer speed and a data type relating to the URL, and rewrites the URL received from the user by the rewriting server to the access path. It has a processing program and a processing program in which the user acquires resources by an optimal route according to each information of the access path.

A processing program for collecting specific information including a transfer speed and a data type related to an access path is transmitted via a network by regular communication to another URL rewriting device 8, a mirror server 10, a relay server 11,
And a program for executing access path information collection from the cache server 12 or the like. The collected access path information is stored in the access path information storage unit 2.

The processing program for rewriting the URL received from the user into the access path includes a program for confirming that the request is a URL rewriting request and retrieving the access path information corresponding to the received URL from the access path information storage 2. If the corresponding access path information exists, a program that rewrites the relevant access path information to an appropriate access path, deletes unnecessary access paths as necessary, and returns the rewritten access path to the user. If the corresponding access path information does not exist, the program executes a program for requesting another server to collect the access path information as necessary.

According to each information of the access path, a processing program for acquiring a resource by an optimal route is as follows:
From the received access path information and cost information and information such as the search frequency for the information, the access paths are appropriately ordered and sorted, and the access path information to be held in response to the URL rewriting request is searched for. This is the program that executes the answer.

Next, several examples of specific URL rewriting programs will be described.

The access path to the mirror server is determined based on information held by the URL rewriting device itself and information obtained from another URL rewriting device in the network.
The URL obtained from the user is rewritten to the information of the mirror server group and returned to the user. For example, for the URL ftp://ftp.freeware.org/freeware/docs/FAQ.ps, foo.bar.co.jp FTP ftp://foo.bar.co.jp/mirror/doc
s / FAQ.ps ftpl.freeware.org FTP ftp://ftp1.jp.freeware.org
/docs/FAQ.ps ftp4.freeware.org FTP ftp://ftp4.jp.freeware.org
Returns /docs/FAQ.ps. Here, one item is represented as a server host, two items are represented as protocols, and three items are represented as paths in the server.

With respect to the access path to the cache server, the URL rewriting device inquires of a request from the user for information such as whether or not data is held in a nearby cache server and the cost to the server.
Based on the result, the proxy holding the cache,
Rewrite the proxy in order of lowest cost and return the result. For example, for the URL of http://www.foo.com/bar/index.htm1, proxy1 HTTP http://www.foo.com/bar/index.htm1 proxy2 HTTP http://www.foo. com / bar / index.htm1 www.foo.com HTTP http://www.foo.com/bar/index.ht
Returning m1 solves the proxy selection problem.

The selection of the access path depending on the user environment can be realized by rewriting the URL corresponding to the access path according to the environment. For example, RealAudi
o Where data can only be accessed via an HTTP proxy on a machine called ht_proxy, the URL of the RealAudio resource http://www.foo.co.jp/bar/sound.ram should be ht_proxy HTTP http: // www .foo.co.jp / bar / sound_ht.
Rewrite to htm1.

As another example, a URL of ftp://www.foo.co.jp/ls_1R is used as an access path to a mirror file at a local site, and FileServer NFS file: / net / FileServer / mirror / www.f
By rewriting oo.co.jp/ls_1R, it is possible to convert to access to a shared mirror server.

The response to the new service is realized by the work of rewriting the URL. This will create resource specifiers for the various access paths. For example, proxy server connection is Delegate's ROUTE
This can be done by using the designation.

With this, various proxy servers such as a kanji code conversion proxy, a furigana attaching proxy, an image resolution conversion proxy, and a protocol conversion proxy can be connected and used, but the URL description for that must be complicated. If a URL rewriting device is used, the use of such a proxy can be easily realized by a rewriting server rewriting a request from a user into a form to which information is added.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been specifically described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof. For example, in order to increase rewriting conditions, different rewriting may be performed according to information of a user or a group.

[0043]

According to the present invention, resources such as information and data can be obtained via an appropriate server at the time of access from a plurality of mirror servers, relay servers, and cache servers. As a result, it is possible to efficiently obtain resources from mirror servers at various locations in the network, including mirror servers independently installed near clients. Further, even in an environment where the Internet is connected through a plurality of routes, it is possible to efficiently acquire resources via an appropriate relay server. Further, even in an environment in which there are a plurality of cache servers, it is possible to selectively acquire resources from cache servers holding caches by accessing recent resources.

Further, according to the present invention, new types of services and complicated U
It is also possible to simply express RL.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a storage form of an access path according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 URL rewriting processing unit 2 access path information storage unit 3 access path information collecting unit 4 network 5 network 6 access path information collecting unit 7 URL rewriting request unit 8 URL rewriting device 9 user or program 10 mirror server 11 relay server 12 cache server 13 Access path information 14 Number of access paths 15 URL pattern 16 Server information 17 Service information 18 Resource path in server 19 Auxiliary information 20 Access right

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A system comprising a single computer, or a system in which a plurality of computers are connected via a network or a system connected to the Internet.
In the information access based on the RL, the rewriting server collects, in advance or when necessary, specific information including an access path to the resource specifier and a transfer speed and a data type related to each access path; A URL rewriting method, comprising the steps of: rewriting a resource specifier into an access path; and acquiring the resource by an optimal path according to each information of the access path by the user or the program. 2. A system comprising a single computer, or a system in which a plurality of computers are connected via a network or a system connected to the Internet.
In the information access based on the RL, the server name providing the new service, the service type, and the location of the service and the resource in the server are provided for the character string of the resource specifier expressing the new service by the rewriting server. Generating information of an access path to be rewritten into a specifier expressing a server content including a location; rewriting a resource specifier received from a user or a program by the rewriting server; information of the access path by the user or the program; A step of receiving a new service according to the above method. 3. A system configured with a single computer, or a system in which a plurality of computers are connected via a network or a system connected to the Internet.
In an information access apparatus based on RL, a rewriting server collects access information for a resource specifier and specific information including a transfer speed and a data type for each access path in advance or when necessary, A URL rewriting device comprising: means for rewriting a received resource specifier into an access path; and means for the user or program to acquire resources on an optimal path according to each information of the access path. 4. A system configured with a single computer, a system in which a plurality of computers are connected via a network, or a system connected with the Internet.
In an information access device based on RL, for a character string of a resource specifier representing a new service, a rewriting server provides a server name for providing the new service, a service type, and a service or resource in the server. Means for generating access path information to be rewritten into a specifier expressing the server contents including the location of the server; means for rewriting the resource specifier received from the user or the program by the rewriting server; A means for receiving a new service in accordance with the information of (1). 5. A system comprising a single computer, or a system in which a plurality of computers are connected via a network or a system connected to the Internet.
A recording medium on which an RL rewriting program is recorded, wherein the rewriting server collects access information for a resource specifier in advance or when necessary, and specific information including a transfer speed and a data type for each access path; A process of rewriting a resource specifier received from a user or a program into an access path, and recording a URL rewriting program for causing the user or the program to execute a process of acquiring a resource through an optimal path according to each information of the access path. Recording medium. 6. A system configured with a single computer, a system in which a plurality of computers are connected via a network, or a system connected to the Internet.
A recording medium storing an RL rewriting program, wherein a rewriting server responds to a character string of a resource specifier representing a new service by providing a server name for providing the new service, a service type, A process of generating access path information to be rewritten to a specifier expressing server contents including a location of a service or a resource, a process of rewriting a resource specifier received from a user or a program by the rewriting server, Is a recording medium on which a URL rewriting program for executing a process of enjoying a new service according to the information of the access path is recorded.