Migrating recovery modules in a distributed computing environment

• US 20030005102A1
• Filed: 06/28/2001
• Published: 01/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Russell, Lance W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,743,126 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0709 in a distributed system consisting of a plurality of standalone computer nodes, e.g. clusters, client-server systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1438 Restarting or rejuvenating
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3055 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the status of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring if the computing system is on, off, available, not available error or fault processing without redundancy G06F11/0703; error detection or correction by redundancy in data representation G06F11/08; error detection or correction by redundancy in operation G06F11/14; error detection or correction by redundancy in hardware G06F11/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3093 Configuration details thereof, e.g. installation, enabling, spatial arrangement of the probes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/048 mobile agents
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0661 by reconfiguring faulty entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning

Abstract

Systems and methods for implementing recovery processes on failed nodes in a distributed computing environment are described. In accordance with this scheme, one or more migratory recovery modules are launched into the network. The recovery modules migrate from node to node, determine the status of each node, and initiate recovery processes on failed nodes. In this way, scalable recovery processes may be implemented in distributed systems, even with incomplete network topology and membership information. In addition, the complexity and cost associated with manual status monitoring and recovery operations may be avoided.

Claims

1. A system for managing a plurality of distributed nodes of a network, comprising:

a recovery module configured to migrate from one network node to another, determine a status of a network node, and initiate a recovery process on a failed network node.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the recovery module comprises a routing component for determining a next hop address from an origin network node to a destination network node.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the routing component is configured to determine the next hop address based upon a routing table stored at the origin network node.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the recovery module is configured to determine the status of a network node by sending an inter-process communication to a node process.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the recovery module is configured to determine the status of a network node in accordance with a heartbeat messaging protocol.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the recovery module is configured to initiate a recovery process on a failed network node in accordance with a restart protocol.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the recovery module is configured to initiate a restart of a failed node process by transmitting a request to a process execution service operating on the failed network node.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the recovery module is configured to transmit a node status message to a network management module operating at a network management network node.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the node status message comprises information obtained from a log file generated at the failed network node.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a network management module configured to launch a plurality of recovery modules into the network.

11. A method for managing a plurality of distributed nodes of a network, comprising:

migrating from one network node to another;

determining a status of a network node; and

initiating a recovery process on a failed network node.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein migrating from one network node to another comprises determining a next hop address from an origin network node to a destination network node.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the next hop address is determined based upon a routing table stored at the origin network node.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the status of a network node is determined by sending an inter-process communication to a node process.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the status of a network node is determined in accordance with a heartbeat messaging protocol.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein a recovery process is initiated on a failed network node in accordance with a restart protocol.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein a restart of a failed node process is initiated by transmitting a request to a process execution service operating on the failed network node.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising transmitting a node status message to a network management module operating at a network management network node.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising launching into the network a plurality of recovery modules, each configured to migrate from one network node to another, determine the status of a network node, and initiate a recovery process on a failed network node.

20. A computer program for managing a plurality of distributed nodes of a network, the computer program residing on a computer-readable medium and comprising computer-readable instructions for causing a computer to:

migrate the computer program from one network node to another;

determine a status of a network node; and

initiate a recovery process on a failed network node.