A clustered enterprise distributed processing system. The distributed
processing system includes a first and a second computer coupled to a
communication medium. The first computer includes a virtual machine (JVM)
and kernel software layer for transferring messages, including a remote
virtual machine (RJVM). The second computer includes a JVM and a kernel
software layer having a RJVM. Messages are passed from a RJVM to the JVM
in one computer to the JVM and RJVM in the second computer. Messages may
be forwarded through an intermediate server or rerouted after a network
reconfiguration. Each computer includes a Smart stub having a replica
handler, including a load balancing software component and a failover
software component. Each computer includes a duplicated service naming
tree for storing a pool of Smart stubs at a node.