METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIA FOR MONITORING, ADJUSTING, AND UTILIZING LATENCY ASSOCIATED WITH ACCESSING DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING RESOURCES

• US 20180295144A1
• Filed: 04/07/2017
• Published: 10/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Keysight Technologies Singapore Sales Pte Ltd (Keysight Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Ixia (Keysight Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Jackson, Stephen Samuel
• Granted Patent: US 10,609,054 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/00 Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring error detection, correction or monitoring in information storage based on relative movement between record carrier and transducer G11B20/18; monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing G11B27/36; in static stores G11C29/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3419 by assessing time
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/552 involving long-term monitoring or reporting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/554 involving event detection and direct action
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0864 Round trip delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/283 in response to processing delays, e.g. caused by jitter or round trip time [RTT]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1425 Traffic logging, e.g. anomaly detection
• 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

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer readable media for monitoring, adjusting, and utilizing latency associated with accessing distributed computing resources are disclosed. One method includes measuring a first latency associated with accessing a first computing resource located at a first site. The method further includes the measuring a second latency associated with accessing a second computing resource located at a second site different from the first site. The method further includes selectively impairing transmission of packets to or processing of packets by at least one of the first and second computing resources in accordance with a performance, network security, or diagnostic goal.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring, adjusting, and utilizing latency associated with accessing distributed computing resources, the method comprising:

measuring a first latency associated with accessing a first computing resource located at a first site;

measuring a second latency associated with accessing a second computing resource located at a second site different from the first site; and

selectively impairing transmission of packets to or processing of packets by at least one of the first and second computing resources to adjust latency associated with accessing at least one of the first and second computing resources in accordance with a performance, diagnostic, or network security goal.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein measuring the first and second latencies includes transmitting test packets to each of the first and second computing resources, looping the test packets back from the first and second computing resources, and determining round trip times for the packets as the first and second latencies.

3. The method of claim 1 when measuring the first and second latencies includes monitoring live network traffic transmitted to the first and second computing resources and determining round trip times for the live network traffic as the first and second latencies.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein selectively impairing the transmission of packets includes adding delay to transmission of packets to or from at least one of the first and second computing resources to make the first and second latencies substantially equal to each other.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein selectively impairing the transmission of packets includes adding delay to the transmission of packets to or from at least one of the first and second computing resources such that a difference between the first and second latencies is within a tolerance.

6. The method of claim 1 comprising detecting the presence of an attack based on a variation in the first latency, the second latency, or a difference between the first and second latencies.

7. The method of claim 6 comprising, in response to detecting the presence of an attack performing a security action.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein selectively impairing transmission of packets to or processing of packets by the first and second computing resources includes adding delay to the transmission of packets to the first computing resource so that latencies associated with accessing the first computing resource varies according to a schedule.

9. The method of claim 8 comprising monitoring latencies associated with accessing the first computing resource and indicating an attack when the latencies associated with accessing the first computing resource vary from the schedule.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second computing resources comprise cloud computing resources and wherein adjusting the first and second latencies includes equalizing the latencies between the cloud computing resources.

11. A system for monitoring, adjusting, and utilizing latency associated with accessing distributed computing resources, the system comprising:

a latency measurement module for measuring a first latency associated with accessing a first computing resource located at a first site and a second latency associated with accessing a second computing resource located at a second site different from the first site; and

a latency adjustment module for selectively impairing transmission of packets to or processing of packets by at least one of the first and second computing resources to adjust latency associated with accessing at least one of the first and second computing resources in accordance with a performance, diagnostic, or network security goal.

12. The system of claim 11 comprising first and second loopback switches respectively associated with the first and second computing resources wherein the latency measurement module is configured to transmit test packets to each of the first and second computing resources, the first and second loopback switches loop the test packets from the first and second computing resources to the latency measurement module, and the latency measurement module determines round trip times for the test packets as the first and second latencies.

13. The system of claim 11 when the latency measurement module is configured to measure the first and second latencies by monitoring live network traffic transmitted to the first and second computing resources and determining round trip times for the live network traffic as the first and second latencies.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the latency adjustment module is configured to selectively impair the transmission of packets by adding delay to transmission of packets to or from at least one of the first and second computing resources to make the first and second latencies substantially equal to each other.

15. The system of claim 11 the latency adjustment module is configured to selectively impair the transmission of packets by adding delay to the transmission of packets to or from at least one of the first and second computing resources such that a difference between the first and second latencies is within a tolerance.

16. The system of claim 11 comprising an attack detection module for detecting the presence of an attack based on a variation in the first latency, the second latency, or a difference between the first and second latencies.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the attack detection module is configured to, in response to detecting the presence of an attack, perform a security action.

18. The system of claim 11 wherein the latency adjustment module is configured to selectively impair transmission of packets to or processing of packets by the first and second computing resources by adding delay to the transmission of packets to the first computing resource so that latencies associated with accessing the first computing resource varies according to a schedule.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the attack detection module is configured to monitor latencies associated with accessing the first computing resource and indicating an attack when the latencies associated with accessing the first computing resource vary from the schedule.

20. The system of claim 11 wherein the first and second computing resources comprise cloud computing resources and wherein adjusting the first and second latencies includes equalizing the latencies between the cloud computing resources

21. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon executable instructions that when executed by a processor of a computer control the computer to perform steps comprising:

measuring a first latency associated with accessing a first computing resource located at a first site;

measuring a second latency associated with accessing a second computing resource located at a second site different from the first site; and

selectively impairing transmission of packets to or processing of packets by at least one of the first and second computing resources to adjust latency associated with accessing at least one of the first and second computing resources in accordance with a performance, diagnostic, or network security goal.