Transaction Distribution with an Independent Workload Advisor

• US 20150113162A1
• Filed: 10/17/2013
• Published: 04/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Cramer, Christopher, King, Robert G., Naphade, Deepti M., Pava, Jairo A., Chan, Yuk L.
• Granted Patent: US 9,584,595 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/238
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/44 Distributed routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5007 Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• 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 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30

Abstract

In an exemplary embodiment, a computer-implemented method includes providing a mapping between a set of two or more IP addresses and a set of two more servers. A weight recommendation for the servers is received, based at least in part on server data related to current states of the servers, where the weight recommendation represents a goal for distributing a plurality of transactions among the servers. The mapping is modified based at least in part on the weight recommendation. A transaction is received, directed toward a first IP address of the two or more IP addresses. The transaction is routed to a first server, of the two or more servers, associated with the first IP address according to the modified mapping.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

providing a mapping between a set of two or more IP addresses and a set of two more servers, wherein at least two of the two or more IP addresses are mapped to a first server of the set of two or more servers according to the mapping;

receiving a weight recommendation for the servers based at least in part on server data related to current states of the servers, the weight recommendation representing a goal for distributing a plurality of transactions among the servers;

modifying, by a computer processor, the mapping based on the weight recommendation, wherein modifying the mapping based on the weight recommendation comprises modifying how many of the two or more IP addresses are mapped to the first server, and wherein after modifying to the mapping, a quantity of the two or more IP addresses that are mapped to the first server corresponds to a weight recommendation for the first server;

receiving a transaction directed toward a first IP address of the two or more IP addresses; and

routing the transaction to a first server, of the set of two or more servers, associated with the first IP address according to the modified mapping.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying the mapping based on the weight recommendation comprises adjusting the mapping to distribute the IP addresses among the servers to achieve a set of server weights closer to the weight recommendation than a current set of server weights.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying the mapping based on the weight recommendation comprises reassigning the first IP address from a second server to the first server.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying the mapping based on the weight recommendation comprises modifying how many IP addresses are in the set of two or more IP addresses.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the plurality of transactions from a load balancer, each transaction being directed toward a specific IP address from among the two or more IP addresses.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising using an API of the load balancer to affect a flow of the transactions to a second IP address of the two or more IP addresses.

7. The method of claim 5, absent communication of weight recommendations to the load balancer.

8. A system comprising:

a virtual networking layer configured to;

provide a mapping between a set of two or more IP addresses and a set of two more servers, wherein at least two of the two or more IP addresses are mapped to a first server of the set of two or more servers according to the mapping;

receive a weight recommendation from a workload advisor, the weight recommendation being based at least in part on server data representing a current state of the set of two or more servers;

modify the mapping between the set of two or more IP addresses and the set of two more servers based on the weight recommendation, wherein modifying the mapping based on the weight recommendation comprises modifying how many of the two or more IP addresses are mapped to the first server, and wherein after modifying to the mapping, a quantity of the two or more IP addresses that are mapped to the first server corresponds to a weight recommendation for the first server;

receive a transaction directed toward a first IP address of the two or more IP addresses; and

route the transaction to a first server of the set of two or more servers, based on the first IP address being mapped to the first server in the modified mapping.

9. The system of claim 8, the virtual networking layer being further configured to modify the mapping by adjusting the mapping to distribute the IP addresses among the servers to achieve a set of server weights closer to the weight recommendation than a current set of server weights.

10. The system of claim 8, the virtual networking layer being further configured to modify the mapping by reassigning the first IP address from a second server to the first server.

11. The system of claim 8, the virtual networking layer being further configured to modify the mapping by modifying how many IP addresses are in the set of two or more IP addresses.

12. The system of claim 8, the virtual networking layer being further configured to receive a plurality of transactions from a load balancer, each transaction being directed toward a specific IP address from among the two or more IP addresses.

13. The system of claim 12, the virtual networking layer being further configured to use an API of the load balancer to affect a flow of the transactions to a second IP address of the two or more IP addresses.

14. The system of claim 12, absent communication of weight recommendations to the load balancer.

15. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon, the computer readable program code executable by a processor to perform a method comprising:

providing a mapping between a set of two or more IP addresses and a set of two more servers, wherein at least two of the two or more IP addresses are mapped to a first server of the set of two or more servers according to the mapping;

receiving a weight recommendation for the servers based at least in part on server data related to current states of the servers, the weight recommendation representing a goal for distributing a plurality of transactions among the servers;

modifying the mapping based on the weight recommendation, wherein modifying the mapping based on the weight recommendation comprises modifying how many of the two or more IP addresses are mapped to the first server, and wherein after modifying to the mapping, a quantity of the two or more IP addresses that are mapped to the first server corresponds to a weight recommendation for the first server;

receiving a transaction directed toward a first IP address of the two or more IP addresses; and

routing the transaction to a first server, of the set of two or more servers, associated with the first IP address according to the modified mapping.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein modifying the mapping based on the weight recommendation comprises adjusting the mapping to distribute the IP addresses among the servers to achieve a set of server weights closer to the weight recommendation than a current set of server weights.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein modifying the mapping based on the weight recommendation comprises reassigning the first IP address from a second server to the first server.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein modifying the mapping based on the weight recommendation comprises modifying how many IP addresses are in the set of two or more IP addresses.

19. The computer program product of claim 15, the method further comprising:

receiving the plurality of transactions from a load balancer, each transaction being directed toward a specific IP address from among the two or more IP addresses; and

using an API of the load balancer to affect a flow of the transactions to a second IP address of the two or more IP addresses.

20. The computer program product of claim 15, the method further comprising receiving the plurality of transactions from a load balancer, each transaction being directed toward a specific IP address from among the two or more IP addresses, and absent communication of weight recommendations to the load balancer.