SELECTIVE DATABASE REPLICATION

• US 20100161551A1
• Filed: 12/22/2008
• Published: 06/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Clearinghouse LLC (RPX Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nortel Networks Limited (Nortel Networks Corporation)
• Inventors: Whynot, Stephen
• Granted Patent: US 9,239,767 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/610
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2094 Redundant storage or storage space G06F11/2056 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2097 maintaining the standby controller/processing unit updated initialisation or re-synchronisation thereof G06F11/1658 and subgroups
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/273 Asynchronous replication or reconciliation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/275 Synchronous replication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually

Abstract

A method and system for selectively replicating data from a primary database associated with a primary server to a secondary database associated with a secondary server. The secondary server determines that a replication task using a first update command has modified the primary database. The secondary server determines a primary table in the primary database has been updated. The secondary server generates a secondary federated table that is coupled to the primary table. The secondary server obtains a second update command based on the first update command from the primary database and applies the second update command to a secondary table in the secondary database using the secondary federated table.

Claims

1. A method for replicating data from a first database to a second database comprising:

determining that a first update command has modified data in a primary table in a primary database associated with a primary server;

in response to determining that the first update command has modified data in the primary table in the primary database, determining a second update command based on the first update command; and

applying the second update command to replicate the data in a secondary table in a secondary database associated with a secondary server using a secondary federated table coupled to the primary table.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the second update command based on the first update command comprises obtaining, from the primary database, one or more modification statements for application to the secondary database.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the second update command based on the first update command comprises obtaining a table schema associated with the primary table updated by the first update command, and generating the second update command based on the table schema.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein each of the one or more modification statements include a reference to the secondary federated table.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the data comprises information relating to a configuration associated with the secondary server associated with the secondary database.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the primary database is stored on a first storage device associated with the primary server, and the secondary database is stored on a second storage device associated with the secondary server.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the primary server and the secondary server comprise media application servers.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the primary table, the secondary table, and the secondary federated table each have a same table definition.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein determining that the first update command has modified the primary table comprises receiving a notification from the primary server that the first update command has modified the primary database.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising applying the first update command to the primary table in the primary server, generating the second update command based on the first update command, and storing the second update command in an update table in the primary database.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the second update command comprises one or more modification statements referring to the secondary table and the secondary federated table.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein applying the second update command to modify the secondary table further comprises generating the secondary federated table, applying the second update command to modify the secondary table using the secondary federated table, and removing the secondary federated table after applying the second update command.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the second update command includes a reference to the secondary federated table, and upon application of the second update command, data is automatically transmitted from the primary table in the primary database to the secondary federated table by virtue of the reference to the secondary federated table.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the secondary federated table comprises a virtualized view of the primary table in the primary database, wherein the secondary federated table does not contain all the data that is contained in the primary table.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining the secondary table to be updated, and wherein the second update command comprises a Structured Query Language (SQL) statement for application to the secondary table.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of secondary servers, each of the plurality of secondary servers having a respective associated secondary database, and wherein in response to determining that the first update command has modified the data in the primary table in the primary database, each one of the plurality of secondary servers determines the second update command based on the first update command, and applies the second update command to replicate the data in a respective secondary table in the secondary database using a respective secondary federated table coupled to the primary table substantially simultaneously.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the primary server and the plurality of secondary servers each comprise a node in a cluster of servers.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the secondary table is one of a plurality of secondary tables in the secondary database.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein applying the second update command to replicate the data in the secondary table in the secondary database using the secondary federated table coupled to the primary table updates a first plurality of rows in the secondary table, and a second plurality of rows in the secondary table are not updated.

20. An apparatus for updating a table comprising:

an interface adapted to communicate with a network; and

a control system coupled to the interface and adapted to;

determine that a first update command has modified data in a primary table in a primary database associated with a primary server;

in response to determining that the first update command has modified data in the primary table in the primary database, determine a second update command based on the first update command; and

apply the second update command to replicate the data in a secondary table in a secondary database associated with a secondary server using a secondary federated table coupled to the primary table.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein to determine the second update command, the control system is further adapted to obtain, from the primary database, one or more modification statements for application to the secondary table.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein the one or more modification statements refer to the secondary federated table.

23. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein to determine the second update command, the control system is further adapted to obtain a table schema associated with the primary table updated by the first update command, and to generate the second update command based on the table schema.

24. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the secondary federated table comprises a virtualized view of the primary table in the primary database, wherein the secondary federated table does not contain all the data that is contained in the primary table.

25. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the control system is further adapted to determine the secondary table to be updated, and wherein the second update command comprises a Structured Query Language (SQL) statement for application to the secondary database.