The invention includes a system and method that mediates access to a network of servers hosting a website. A central controller or server is the primary host for client requests, mapping the requests to the appropriate server by redirecting client web requests to the appropriate host server. The status of the server network is constantly monitored by the primary server by periodically "pinging" each of the servers in accordance with standard Internet Protocol (IP.) If a server becomes unavailable, the "down" status is recorded and future client requests for pages hosted by the down server are either immediately issued a user friendly error message or are redirected to an alternate web page on the primary host server or on another available server.