Multi-server authentication token data exchange

Abstract

A client is authenticated by a server receiving an initial request from the client at the beginning of a session. The server receiving the initial request generates an authentication token and returns the authentication token to the client in response to the client being authenticated. The user's credentials used to authenticate the client are stored in the authentication token along with other information. After receiving the authentication token from the server that generated the authentication token, the client passes the authentication token with each of the future requests to the pool of servers. Using the client to pass the transferrable authentication token, the servers share the user's identity/credentials in a decentralized manner. Any server from the shared pool of servers that receives a subsequent client request is able to decrypt the token and re-authenticate the user without having to prompt the client for authentication credentials again.