A server architecture includes a server program to receive a request from a client. In one aspect, an out-of-process application executing in a separate process from the server program is invoked to process the request and to generate a response to be returned to the client, and the server architecture includes a subsystem to detect when the out-of-process application fails and to recover the out-of-process application without disrupting operation of the server program. In another aspect, a method for detecting when an out-of-process application fails includes recording the request on a list as the request is passed to the application, examining the request as it is returned from the application, determining that the application has failed if the returned request contains erroneous data, and if the application has not failed then removing the request from the list.