SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CONTENT INJECTION

• US 20140365563A1
• Filed: 08/26/2014
• Published: 12/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Citrix Systems, Inc. (Cloud Software Group)
• Original Assignee: Citrix Systems, Inc. (Cloud Software Group)
• Inventors: Raghu, Jagannath, Annamalaisami, Saravana, Rajan, Roy
• Granted Patent: US 9,363,328 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/561 Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561

Abstract

The present solution is directed towards a policy-based intermediary that dynamically and flexibly injects content in responses between a client and a server based on one or more policies. The present solution addresses the challenges of injecting content in a client-server transaction. The intermediary determines when and what content to inject into a response of a client-server transaction based on a request and/or response policy. The injected content may include timestamp and/or variable tracking of different events in a client-server transaction. For example, when an intermediary appliance is deployed in a system to accelerate system performance and improve user experience, the appliance may inject content based on policy to monitor the acceleration performance of the deployed appliance.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

(a) identifying, by a policy engine of an intermediary, a policy to apply to a communication between a client and a server, the policy identifying a plurality of variables for which a value is to be determined by the intermediary and included in the communication;

(b) determining, by the intermediary, a first time of forwarding a first byte of the communication between the client and the server forwarded by the device and a second time of forwarding a last byte of the communication between the client and the server forwarded by the device;

(c) modifying, by the intermediary, the communication to include the first time as a first value for a first variable of the plurality of variables and the second time as a second value for a second variable for the plurality of variables; and

(d) forwarding, by the intermediary, the modified communication.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy specifies content to include into the communication, the content identifying the plurality of variables.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the content of the policy comprises one of a HyperText Transfer Protocol prebody, postbody or a header.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein (a) further comprises identifying, by the intermediary, that content of the communication matches an expression of the policy.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein (c) further comprises modifying, by the intermediary, the communication to include one of the following:

an identifier of the intermediary, a transaction identifier for the communication or a system uptime.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication comprises one of a response from the server to the client or a request from the client to the server.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the intermediary is device intermediary to the client and the server.

8. A method comprising:

(a) identifying, by a policy engine of an intermediary, a policy to apply to a communication between a client and a server, the policy identifying a plurality of variables for which a value is to be determined by the intermediary and included in the communication;

(b) determining, by the intermediary, a first time of receipt of a first byte of the communication between the client and the server received by the device and a second time of receipt of a last byte of the communication between the client and the server received by the device;

(c) modifying, by the intermediary, the communication to include the first time as a first value for a first variable of the plurality of variables and the second time as a second value for a second variable for the plurality of variables; and

(d) forwarding, by the intermediary, the modified communication.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the policy specifies content to include into the communication, the content identifying the plurality of variables.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the content of the policy comprises one of a HyperText Transfer Protocol prebody, postbody or a header.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein (a) further comprises identifying, by the intermediary, that content of the communication matches an expression of the policy.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein (c) further comprises modifying, by the intermediary, the communication to include one of the following:

an identifier of the intermediary, a transaction identifier for the communication or a system uptime.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the communication comprises one of a response from the server to the client or a request from the client to the server.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the intermediary is device intermediary to the client and the server.

15. A system comprising:

a device intermediary to a plurality of clients and one or more servers;

a policy engine of the device configured to identify a policy to apply to a

communication between a client and a server, the policy identifying a plurality of variables for which a value is to be determined by the intermediary and included in the communication;

wherein the device is configured to;

determine a first timestamp of a first byte of the communication between the client and server traversing the device and a second timestamp of a last byte of the communication between the client and server traversing the device;

modify the communication to include the first timestamp as a first value for a first variable of the plurality of variables and the second timestamp as a second value for a second variable for the plurality of variables; and

forward the modified communication.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the policy specifies content to include into the communication, the content identifying the plurality of variables.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the content of the policy comprises one of a HyperText Transfer Protocol prebody, postbody or a header.

18. The system of claim 15, whether the device is further configured to identify that, content of the communication matches an expression of the policy.

19. The system of claim 15, whether the device is further configured to modify the communication to include one of the following:

an identifier of the intermediary, a transaction identifier for the communication or a system uptime.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the communication comprises one of a response from the server to the client or a request from the client to the server.