SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING DYNAMIC SPILLOVER OF VIRTUAL SERVERS BASED ON BANDWIDTH

• US 20100046546A1
• Filed: 10/30/2009
• Published: 02/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Citrix Systems, Inc. (Cloud Software Group)
• Original Assignee: Citrix Systems, Inc. (Cloud Software Group)
• Inventors: Ram, Maruthi, Suganthi, Joesphine, Kamath, Sandeep, Verzunov, Sergey
• Granted Patent: US 8,275,871 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/468
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5083 Techniques for rebalancing the load in a distributed system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/101 based on network conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1012 based on compliance of requirements or conditions with available server resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1029 using data related to the state of servers by a load balancer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/2871 Implementation details of single intermediate entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/288 Distributed intermediate devices, i.e. intermediate devices for interaction with other intermediate devices on the same level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/563 Data redirection of data network streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/59 Providing operational support to end devices by off-loading in the network or by emulation, e.g. when they are unavailable
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context

Abstract

The present solution provides a spillover management technique for virtual servers of an appliance based on bandwidth. A network administrator may configure a bandwidth threshold for one or more virtual servers, such as virtual servers providing acceleration or load balancing for one or more services. The bandwidth threshold may be specified as a number of bytes transferred via the virtual server. The bandwidth threshold may also be specified as a round trip time or derivative thereof. A user may specify the bandwidth threshold via a configuration interface. Otherwise, the appliance may establish the bandwidth threshold. The appliance monitors the bandwidth used by a first virtual server. In response to detecting the bandwidth reaching or exceeding the bandwidth threshold, the appliance dynamically directs client requests to a second virtual server.

Claims

1. A method for performing bandwidth management of a virtual server on an object basis, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) establishing, on an appliance, a first virtual server for directing requests to a second virtual server based on requests corresponding to an object type;

(b) establishing, via the appliance, a bandwidth threshold for the second virtual server;

(c) directing, by the first virtual server, to the second virtual server client requests corresponding to the object type; and

(d) monitoring, by the appliance, bandwidth used by the second virtual server to determine if the bandwidth exceeds the bandwidth threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising determining, by the appliance, the monitored bandwidth of the second virtual server exceeds the bandwidth threshold.

3. The method of claim 2, comprising directing, by the appliance in response to the determination, a request of the client to a third virtual server.

4. The method of claim 3, comprising handling, by the third virtual server, requests corresponding to the object type.

5. The method of claim 1, comprising determining, by the first virtual server, a request of a client corresponds to the object type by comparing the request to a pattern for at least a portion of a uniform resource locator.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising determining, by the first virtual server, a request of a client has a predetermined file extension corresponding to the object type.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising determining, by the first virtual server, a request of a client corresponds to the object type responsive to a policy of a policy engine.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising determining, by the first virtual server, a request of a client corresponds to the object type by applying a content switching policy to content of the request.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) comprises determining, by the appliance, a number of bytes per second transferred between the second virtual server and a plurality of services.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) comprises determining, by the appliance, a number of bytes per second transferred between the second virtual server and a plurality of clients.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) comprises determining, by the appliance, a number of bytes one of received or transmitted by the second virtual server for a predetermined time period.

12. The method of claim 1, comprising transmitting, by the second virtual server, requests to a plurality of services.

13. The method of claim 1, comprising determining, by the appliance via monitoring, the bandwidth used by the second virtual server falls below the bandwidth threshold.

14. The method of claim 13, comprising redirecting, by the first virtual server in response to the determination, requests to the second virtual server instead of a third virtual server.

15. The method of claim 14, comprising receiving, by the first virtual server a request from a client via a connection established via the third virtual server, and providing the request to the third virtual server.

16. The method of claim 2, comprising receiving, by the first virtual server, a request from a client via a connection established via the second virtual server, and providing the request to the second virtual server.

17. The method of claim 1, comprising determining, by the first virtual server, the bandwidth used by the second virtual server exceeds the bandwidth threshold, and redirecting client requests to one of the following:

a second appliance, a server or a service.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein step (e) comprises identifying, by the appliance, the bandwidth used by the second virtual server is within a second bandwidth threshold.

19. The method of claim 1, comprising determining, by the appliance, bandwidth used by the second virtual server exceeds the bandwidth threshold, and redirecting a request of the client to one of a second appliance, a server or a service.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the appliance uses a redirect uniform resource locator configured for one of the first virtual server or the second virtual server to redirect the request of the client.

21. The method of claim 1, comprising determining, by the appliance, bandwidth used by the second virtual server exceeds the bandwidth threshold, and providing the client with a redirect uniform resource locator to one of a second appliance, a server or a service.