Maintaining an Instant Message (IM) session includes sending a login request to a first login server from a client; establishing the IM session and transferring Instant Messages between the client and the first login server; detecting an interruption in the transfer of the Instant Messages; obtaining an address of a second login server from a login allocation server; sending a reconnection request from the client to the second login server; and in the event that the reconnection request is accepted by the second login server, exchanging Instant Messages between the client and the second login server.