Process pair protection for complex applications
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for providing continuous availability to complex applications -through the use of process-pair protection to allow fast and stateful application failover, the apparatus comprising:
- a primary process-pair manager configured to manage a primary instance of a complex application, the primary process-pair manager defining a plurality of states and conditions that trigger transitions between states, each transition associated with one or more actions executed by the primary process-pair manager; and
a backup process-pair manager configured to manage a backup instance of the complex application, the backup process-pair manager and the backup instance of the complex application for replacing the primary process-pair manager and the primary instance of the complex application in the event of failure associated with the primary instance of the complex application.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques using process-pair protection of complex applications are disclosed which provide fast and stateful application failover.
75 Citations
32 Claims
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1. An apparatus for providing continuous availability to complex applications -through the use of process-pair protection to allow fast and stateful application failover, the apparatus comprising:
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a primary process-pair manager configured to manage a primary instance of a complex application, the primary process-pair manager defining a plurality of states and conditions that trigger transitions between states, each transition associated with one or more actions executed by the primary process-pair manager; and
a backup process-pair manager configured to manage a backup instance of the complex application, the backup process-pair manager and the backup instance of the complex application for replacing the primary process-pair manager and the primary instance of the complex application in the event of failure associated with the primary instance of the complex application. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
a node watcher configured to inform the backup process-pair manager of failures associated with the primary process-pair manager.
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8. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
a node watcher configured to inform the primary process-pair manager of failures associated with the backup process-pair manager.
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9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the primary instance of the complex application is adapted to periodically perform a checkpointing operation by sending internal state information to the backup instance of the complex application.
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10. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
at least one application administration module configured to provide an interface between one of the process-pair managers and components of the corresponding complex application.
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11. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:
at least one interapplication communication module configured to facilitate communication between the process-pair managers.
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12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus is a computer program product stored on a computer readable medium.
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13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the primary process-pair manager is located on a primary computer system and the backup process-pair manager is located on a backup computer system.
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14. A method for providing high availability to complex applications through the use of process-pair protection to allow fast and stateful application failover, the method comprising:
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receiving an indication of a failure associated with a primary instance of an application that includes a plurality of processes;
in response to the indicated failure, transitioning a primary process-pair manager to a disabled state thereby causing the primary instance of the application to stop providing service; and
transitioning a backup process-pair manager from a backup state to a primary state thereby causing an initialized backup instance of the application to become the primary service provider by acquiring state information that was checkpointed by the primary application. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
periodically checkpointing state information associated with the processes of the primary instance to the backup instance of the application.
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17. The method of claim 14 wherein transitioning the primary process-pair manager to a disabled state further causes a cleanup operation where processes of the primary instance of the application that survived the failure are stopped.
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18. The method of claim 14 wherein transitioning the primary process-pair manager to a disabled state further causes a transfer of resources that need to be used by the backup instance of the application as it becomes primary.
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19. The method of claim 14 wherein the disabled state is one of down, degraded, or failed.
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20. An apparatus for providing continuous availability to complex applications through the use of process-pair protection to allow fast and stateful application failover, the apparatus comprising:
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a primary process-pair manager means configured to manage a primary instance of a complex application, the primary process-pair manager means defining a plurality of states and conditions that trigger transitions between states, each transition associated with one or more actions executed by the primary process-pair manager; and
a backup process-pair manager means configured to manage a backup instance of the complex application, the backup process-pair manager means and the backup instance of the complex application for replacing the primary process-pair manager means and the primary instance of the complex application in the event of failure associated with the primary instance of the complex application. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
a node watcher means configured to inform the backup process-pair manager means of failures associated with the primary process-pair manager means.
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24. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising:
a node watcher means configured to inform the primary process-pair manager means of failures associated with the backup process-pair manager means.
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25. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising:
at least one application administration means configured to provide an interface between one of the process-pair manager means and components of the corresponding complex application.
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26. The apparatus of claim 20 further comprising:
at least one interapplication communication means configured to facilitate communication between the process-pair manager means.
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27. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the primary process-pair manager means is located on a primary system means and the backup process-pair manager means is located on a backup system means.
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28. A computer program product, stored on electronically-readable medium, for providing high availability to complex applications through the use of process-pair protection to allow fast and stateful application failover, wherein in response to the computer program product being executed by a processor, the processor performs the steps of:
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receiving an indication of a failure associated with a primary instance of an application that includes a plurality of processes;
in response to the indicated failure, transitioning a primary process-pair manager to a disabled state thereby causing the primary instance of the application to stop providing service; and
transitioning a backup process-pair manager from a backup state to a primary state thereby causing an initialized backup instance of the application to become the primary service provider by acquiring state information that was checkpointed by the primary application. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
periodically checkpointing state information associated with the processes of the primary instance to the backup instance of the application.
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Specification