Method and system for externalizing session management using a reverse proxy server

A method, system, and computer program product is presented for providing access to a set of resources in a distributed data processing system. A reverse proxy server receives a resource request from a client and determines whether or not it is managing a session identifier that was previously associated with the client by the reverse proxy server; if so, it retrieves the session identifier, otherwise it obtains a session identifier and associates the session identifier with the client using information that is managed by the reverse proxy server. The reverse proxy server then modifies the resource request to include the session identifier and forwards the modified resource request to an application server.