To reduce the load on a management server in a load distributed system, a
server list manager 16 of a management server 10 selects servers 4, 6,
20, and 30 to be accessed by a client terminal management server 43 by
referencing an operation status or a load status of the servers 4, 6, 20,
and 30, generates a server list, and sends the generated server list to
the client terminal management server 43. An inquiry unit 47 of the
client terminal management server 43 regularly sends an inquiry to the
network monitoring server 30, which is included in the server list 45, to
ascertain whether or not information has been updated. If the information
has been updated, an information collection unit 48 acquires a
corresponding latest module and a rule base from the information
providing server 20 included in the server list 45 based on information
from the network monitoring server 30.