LOAD BALANCING AND MIGRATION OF TRANSPORT CONNECTIONS

• US 20160072713A1
• Filed: 09/05/2014
• Published: 03/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Mhatre, Vivek, Redfern, Ryan
• Granted Patent: US 9,923,827 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• 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 67/1004 Server selection for load balancing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1029 using data related to the state of servers by a load balancer

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a server comprising a memory to store instructions and a controller coupled to the memory, in which the controller, responsive to executing the instructions, performs operations. The operations include detecting a condition requiring a migration of an active transport connection at a source server to a target server without interrupting communications occurring in the active transport connection. The source server is directed to transmit to the target server a migration command with state information from the source server to enable migrating the active transport connection to the target server without interrupting communications occurring in the active transport connection. A message is then received from the source server indicating the source server has received from the target server an acknowledgment that the migrating has been performed. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

detecting, by a load balancing device comprising a processor, a condition requiring a migration of an active transport connection at a source server to a target server without interrupting communications occurring in the active transport connection;

sending, by the load balancing device, instructions to the source server, wherein the instructions comprise an identification of the target server, an identification of the active transport connection, and a migration request that directs the source server to transmit to the target server a migration command with state information from the source server to enable migrating the active transport connection to the target server without interrupting communications occurring in the active transport connection;

receiving, by the load balancing device, a message from the source server indicating the source server has received from the target server an acknowledgment that the migration request has been completed; and

updating, by the load balancing device, a table to direct future traffic to the active transport connection managed by the target server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the active transport connection is a long-lived active transport connection, wherein the active transport connection utilizes a transport protocol, and wherein the condition detected by the load balancing device comprises a maintenance condition.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the transport protocol is a stream control transmission protocol, and wherein the source server and the target server initiate a coordination process to transition data traffic from the source server to the target server without interrupting communications occurring in the active transport connection.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the source server and the target server respectively comprise a first virtual machine executing on a source device and a second virtual machine executing on a target device, and wherein the source server and the target server are each in communication with an application server.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the application server comprises an application virtual machine executing on an application device separate from the source device and the target device.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the application server comprises an application virtual machine executing on the source device, and wherein the migrating comprises migrating an application context of the application virtual machine from the source device to the target device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the transport connection comprises a first endpoint of a data path, wherein a second endpoint of the data path comprises a client device, and wherein the migrating is performed without signaling the client device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting of the condition requiring the migrating comprises monitoring a current state of the source server, the target server, and the transport connection with respect to a current traffic load on the source server and target server respectively, and anticipating a traffic load on the source server and the target server respectively.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the migrating comprises a transfer of buffered data from the source server to the target server, the buffered data comprising data being processed at the source server when the migration command is transmitted or data incoming at the source server during the migration.

10. A load balancing device comprising:

a memory to store instructions; and

a controller coupled to the memory, wherein responsive to executing the instructions, the controller performs operations comprising;

detecting a condition requiring a migration of an active transport connection at a source server to a target server without interrupting communications occurring in the active transport connection;

directing the source server to transmit to the target server a migration command with state information from the source server to enable migrating the active transport connection to the target server without interrupting communications occurring in the active transport connection; and

receiving a message from the source server indicating the source server has received from the target server an acknowledgment that the migrating has been performed.

11. The load balancing device of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise updating a table to direct future traffic to the active transport connection managed by the target server.

12. The load balancing device of claim 10, wherein the active transport connection is a long-lived active transport connection, wherein the active transport connection utilizes a stream control transmission protocol, and wherein the detecting comprises detecting a maintenance condition.

13. The load balancing device of claim 10, wherein the server is located on a data path having a first endpoint comprising the transport connection and a second endpoint comprising a client device, and wherein the migrating is performed without signaling the client device.

14. The load balancing device of claim 10, wherein the source server comprises a first virtual machine executing on a source device and in communication with an application virtual machine executing on the source device, wherein the target server comprises a second virtual machine executing on a target device, and wherein the migrating comprises migrating an application context of the application virtual machine from the source device to the target device.

15. The load balancing device of claim 10, wherein the detecting of the condition requiring the migrating comprises monitoring a current state of the source server, the target server, and the transport connection with respect to a criticality of the connection and a current traffic load on the source server and target server respectively, and anticipating a traffic load on the source server and the target server respectively.

16. A computer-readable storage device comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

monitoring a current state of a network including a source server, a target server, and an active transport connection at the source server;

detecting a condition requiring a migration of the active transport connection to the target server without interrupting communications occurring in the active transport connection;

directing transmission to the target server of a migration command with state information to enable migrating the active transport connection from the source server to the target server without interrupting communications occurring in the active transport connection;

receiving a message from the source server indicating the source server has received from the target server an acknowledgment that the migration has been completed; and

updating a table to direct future traffic to the active transport connection managed by the target server.

17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the active transport connection is a long-lived active transport connection, wherein the active transport connection utilizes a stream control transmission protocol, and wherein the detecting comprises detecting a maintenance condition.

18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the directing further comprises directing the source server to transmit the migration command to the target server, wherein the source server is located on a data path having a first endpoint comprising the transport connection and a second endpoint comprising a client device, and wherein the migrating is performed without signaling the client device.

19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the source server comprises a first virtual machine executing on a source device and in communication with an application virtual machine executing on the source device, wherein the target server comprises a second virtual machine executing on a target device, and wherein the migrating comprises migrating an application context of the application virtual machine from the source device to the target device.

20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the monitoring further comprises monitoring a current state of the source server, the target server, and the transport connection with respect to a criticality of the connection and a current traffic load on the source server and target server respectively, and anticipating a traffic load on the source server and the target server respectively.