SYSTEM INCLUDING A MIDDLEWARE MACHINE ENVIRONMENT

• US 20120239730A1
• Filed: 09/15/2011
• Published: 09/20/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Revanuru, Naresh, Bihani, Ballav, Larsen, Staffan, Liu, Steven, Phan, Lenny, Oaks, Scott, Torstensson, Patrik, Messinger, Adam, Reynolds, Nathan, Otenko, Oleksandr, Dorr, Joshua, Torudbakken, Ola, Cameron, Brad, Bhattacharya, Pallab
• Granted Patent: US 9,185,054 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/17318 Parallel communications techniques, e.g. gather, scatter, reduce, roadcast, multicast, all to all
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/20 of structured data, e.g. relational data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2358 Change logging, detection, and notification replication G06F16/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/278 Data partitioning, e.g. horizontal or vertical partitioning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45504 Abstract machines for programme code execution, e.g. Java virtual machine [JVM], interpreters, emulators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/042 comprising distributed management centres cooperatively managing the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0686 Additional information in the notification, e.g. enhancement of specific meta-data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/358 Infiniband Switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1034 Reaction to server failures by a load balancer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/142 Managing session states for stateless protocols; Signalling session states; State transitions; Keeping-state mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/146 Markers for unambiguous identification of a particular session, e.g. session cookie or URL-encoding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/14 Multichannel or multilink protocols

Abstract

A system and method for providing a middleware machine or similar platform. In accordance with an embodiment the system (referred to herein in some implementations as “Exalogic”) comprises a combination of high performance hardware, together with an application server or middleware environment, to provide a complete Java EE application server complex which includes a massively parallel in-memory grid, can be provisioned quickly, and can scale on demand. In accordance with an embodiment, the system can be deployed as a full, half, or quarter rack, or other configuration, that provides an application server grid, storage area network, and InfiniBand network, which support the execution of an application server, middleware or other functionality such as, for example, WebLogic Server, JRockit or Hotspot JVM, Oracle Linux or Solaris, and Oracle VM. Additional features of the system can include, e.g. Zero Buffer Copies, Scatter/Gather I/O, T3 Connections, and Lazy Deserialization.

Claims

1. A system for providing a middleware machine or similar platform, comprising:

a high performance computing hardware, including one or a plurality of processors, a high performance memory, and redundant InfiniBand and Ethernet networking;

a middleware environment operating thereon that includes one or a plurality of application server instances; and

wherein the system includes one or more of zero buffer copies, scatter/gather I/O, parallel multiplexed T3 connections, and/or lazy deserialization, and can be provisioned quickly and scale on demand.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises

a user space, which includes a Java virtual machine (JVM) and one or more application server instances;

a plurality of byte buffers accessible to the JVM and the one or more application server instances; and

wherein when a request is received by a first application server instance

data associated with the request is stored in a heap space associated with the JVM,

the JVM pins the portion of the heap space where the data is stored,

the data is pushed to a first byte buffer where it is accessed by the first application server instance,

a response is generated by the first application server using the data, and

the response is sent by the first application server.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises

a cluster of one or more high performance computing systems, each including one or more processors and a high performance memory, and wherein the cluster communicates over an InfiniBand network;

a middleware environment, executing on the cluster, that includes one or more application server instances; and

a plurality of muxers, wherein each application server instance includes at least one muxer, and wherein each muxer is operable to

collect data from a plurality of locations in the high performance memory, and transfer the data in bulk.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises

a cluster of one or more high performance computing systems, each including one or more processors and a high performance memory, and wherein the cluster communicates over an InfiniBand network;

a middleware environment, executing on the cluster, that includes one or more application server instances; and

a plurality of muxers, wherein each application server instance includes at least one muxer, and wherein each muxer receives information from a plurality of threads to transmit to a different muxer on a different application server instance over the Infiniband network using a plurality of parallel channels.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises

a primary application server that operates to receive a request associated with a session from a client, wherein the primary application server maintains session information associated with the session and responds to the client based on the session information;

and

a secondary application server that operates to receive and maintain serialized session information from the primary application server, wherein the secondary application server operates to update the serialized session information based on one or more session updates received from the primary application server; and

wherein the secondary application server operates to generate deserialized session information based on the updated serialized session information and responds to the client based on the deserialized session information, only when the primary application server fails.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the system is deployed as a full, half, or quarter rack, or other configuration, that provides an application server grid, storage area network, and InfiniBand network.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the middleware environment provides an application server, middleware and other functionality such as WebLogic Server, JRockit or Hotspot JVM, Oracle Linux or Solaris, and Oracle VM.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the full, half, or quarter rack, or other configuration includes one or more compute nodes, InfiniBand switch gateway, and storage nodes or units, that communicate with one another via an InfiniBand network.

9. A method of providing a middleware machine or similar platform, comprising the steps of:

providing a high performance computing hardware system, including one or a plurality of processors, a high performance memory, and redundant InfiniBand and Ethernet networking;

providing thereon a middleware environment that includes one or a plurality of application server instances; and

wherein the system includes one or more of zero buffer copies, scatter/gather I/O, parallel multiplexed T3 connections, and/or lazy deserialization, and can be provisioned quickly and scale on demand.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the system comprises

a user space, which includes a Java virtual machine (JVM) and one or more application server instances;

a plurality of byte buffers accessible to the JVM and the one or more application server instances; and

wherein when a request is received by a first application server instance

data associated with the request is stored in a heap space associated with the JVM,

the JVM pins the portion of the heap space where the data is stored,

the data is pushed to a first byte buffer where it is accessed by the first application server instance,

a response is generated by the first application server using the data, and

the response is sent by the first application server.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the system comprises

a cluster of one or more high performance computing systems, each including one or more processors and a high performance memory, and wherein the cluster communicates over an InfiniBand network;

a middleware environment, executing on the cluster, that includes one or more application server instances; and

a plurality of muxers, wherein each application server instance includes at least one muxer, and wherein each muxer is operable to

collect data from a plurality of locations in the high performance memory, and transfer the data in bulk.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the system comprises

a cluster of one or more high performance computing systems, each including one or more processors and a high performance memory, and wherein the cluster communicates over an InfiniBand network;

a middleware environment, executing on the cluster, that includes one or more application server instances; and

a plurality of muxers, wherein each application server instance includes at least one muxer, and wherein each muxer receives information from a plurality of threads to transmit to a different muxer on a different application server instance over the Infiniband network using a plurality of parallel channels.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the system comprises

a primary application server that operates to receive a request associated with a session from a client, wherein the primary application server maintains session information associated with the session and responds to the client based on the session information;

and

a secondary application server that operates to receive and maintain serialized session information from the primary application server, wherein the secondary application server operates to update the serialized session information based on one or more session updates received from the primary application server; and

wherein the secondary application server operates to generate deserialized session information based on the updated serialized session information and responds to the client based on the deserialized session information, only when the primary application server fails.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the system is deployed as a full, half, or quarter rack, or other configuration, that provides an application server grid, storage area network, and InfiniBand network.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the middleware environment provides an application server, middleware and other functionality such as WebLogic Server, JRockit or Hotspot JVM, Oracle Linux or Solaris, and Oracle VM.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the full, half, or quarter rack, or other configuration includes one or more compute nodes, InfiniBand switch gateway, and storage nodes or units, that communicate with one another via an InfiniBand network.

17. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps comprising:

providing a high performance computing hardware system, including one or a plurality of processors, a high performance memory, and redundant InfiniBand and Ethernet networking;

providing thereon a middleware environment that includes one or a plurality of application server instances; and

wherein the system includes one or more of zero buffer copies, scatter/gather I/O, parallel multiplexed T3 connections, and/or lazy deserialization, and can be provisioned quickly and scale on demand.