In scalable multi-node systems, applications that interact with remote users
often
use sessions that involve multiple messages. Unless the application instance that
initiates the conversation processes all subsequent parts of that session, the
context of the conversation must be passed between application instances. This
context often involves sensitive data, such as session keys. This invention uses
a central service, known as a Key Repository process, to create and manage a set
of symmetric encryption keys unique to this application. All authorized instances
of the application then obtain these keys from the Key Repository process, enabling
these application instances to encrypt and save the context on disk, and allowing
a possibly different instance of the application to retrieve and decrypt the context.
As a result, these application programs can be designed to operate in a context-free manner.
