Automatic lease renewal with message gates in a distributed computing environment

• US 7,260,543 B1
• Filed: 09/11/2000
• Issued: 08/21/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Slaughter, Gregory L., Pouyoul, Eric, Saulpaugh, Thomas E., Duigou, Michael J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Weiss; John G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): FISHER, MICHAEL J
• Application Number:
  US09/659,915
• Time in Patent Office: 2,535 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/307
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0645 Rental transactions; Leasing transactions

Abstract

A system and method for providing message-based leasing of resources in a distributed computing environment. Services may issue leases to clients and provide operations on those leases. The lease functionality of a service may be defined in an XML message schema. Gates may be used to perform lease operations. Leases may be granted for a period that may be negotiated. Leasing messages for performing leasing operations may be defined. An automatic lease renewal mechanism may be implemented to relieve the client of the responsibility of handling lease renewal messages. In one embodiment, of an automatic lease renewal mechanism, each gate may receive renewal messages and automatically respond to them without help from the client process. In another embodiment, a client gate may monitor elapsed time and send a lease renewal message prior to the expiration of a current lease period. In one embodiment, the renewal request may claim the lease at a current access level or at a different access level. In one embodiment, a message gate may contain a single, set-aside renewal response message that is automatically sent to the service when the gate receives the renewal message. In one embodiment using time-based leasing, a lease renewal request from a client to a service may specify a requested lease period, and the service leasing the resource to the client may grant a lease period equal to or less than the specified period.

Claims

1. A method for managing resources provided for clients by services in a distributed computing environment, comprising:

a client process obtaining lease access to a resource provided by a service, wherein said client process is operatively coupled to a client message endpoint configured to send messages to and receive messages from said service;

said client message endpoint receiving a lease renewal request message, wherein said lease renewal request message references said resource provided by said service; and

said client message endpoint sending a lease renewal response message, wherein said lease renewal response message requests renewal of said lease access to said resource provided by said service;

wherein said receiving a lease renewal request message and said sending a lease renewal response message are performed automatically by said client message endpoint without intervention by said client process; and

wherein the client process is configured to send and receive messages via the client message endpoint to access the resource provided by the service.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

said service receiving said lease renewal response message; and

said service renewing said lease access to said referenced resource in response to said receiving said lease renewal response message.

3. The method as recited in claim 1,

wherein said lease access is obtained for a first granted lease period;

and

wherein said lease renewal response message requests renewal of said lease access for a second lease period.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, further comprising:

said service receiving said lease renewal response message; and

said service granting said lease access to said referenced resource for a second granted lease period in response to said receiving said lease renewal response message.

5. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein said second granted lease period is less than or equal to said requested second lease period.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said lease renewal response message requests shared lease access to said resource, wherein shared lease access allows other client processes to obtain lease access to said resource contemporarily with said client process.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said lease renewal response message requests exclusive lease access to said resource, wherein exclusive lease access prevents other client processes from obtaining lease access to said resource contemporarily with said client process.

8. The method as recited in claim 1,

wherein said service is a space service, wherein said space service comprises a plurality of service advertisements, wherein each service advertisement comprises information to enable access by client processes to resources provided by a corresponding service;

wherein said client process is a service, wherein said plurality of service advertisements includes a service advertisement corresponding to said service; and

wherein said lease access to said resource is lease access for publishing of said service advertisement, wherein, during said publishing, said service advertisement is accessible to client processes of said space service.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said service is a space service, wherein said space service comprises a plurality of service advertisements, wherein each service advertisement comprises information to enable access by client processes to resources provided by a corresponding service, and wherein said resource is one of said plurality of service advertisement corresponding to a first service.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said messages are in a data representation language.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein said data representation language is eXtensible Markup Language (XML).

12. A method for managing resources provided for clients by services in a distributed computing environment, comprising:

a client process obtaining access to a resource provided by a service for a first granted lease period, wherein said client process is operatively coupled to a client message endpoint configured to send messages to said service;

said client message endpoint sending, prior to said first granted lease period expiring, a lease renewal message, wherein said lease renewal message requests access to said resource provided by said service for a second lease period;

wherein said sending a lease renewal message is performed automatically by the client message endpoint without client process intervention; and

wherein the client process is configured to send and receive messages via the client message endpoint to access the resource provided by the service.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, further comprising:

said service receiving said lease renewal message; and

said service granting access to said referenced resource for a second granted lease period in response to said receiving said lease renewal response message.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein said second granted lease period is less than or equal to said requested second lease period.

15. The method as recited in claim 13, further comprising said service sending to said client message endpoint a lease renewal response message advising said client process of said second granted lease period.

16. The method as recited in claim 12, further comprising:

said client process accessing a service advertisement for enabling access by client processes to resources provided by said service, said service advertisement comprising;

a message schema comprising descriptions of messages for managing leases of resources provided by said service; and

an address for said service receiving said messages for managing leases of resources provided by said service.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, further comprising said client message endpoint generating said lease renewal message in accordance with a description of said lease renewal message comprised in said descriptions of messages.

18. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein said lease renewal message is sent by said client message endpoint to said address for said service receiving said messages.

19. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein said address is a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI).

20. The method as recited in claim 12,

wherein said service is a space service, wherein said space service comprises a plurality of service advertisements, wherein each service advertisement comprises information to enable access by client processes to resources provided by a corresponding service;

wherein said client process is a service, wherein said plurality of service advertisements includes a service advertisement corresponding to said service; and

wherein said lease access to said resource is lease access for publishing of said service advertisement, wherein, during said publishing, said service advertisement is accessible to client processes of said space service.

21. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein said service is a space service, wherein said space service comprises a plurality of service advertisements, wherein each service advertisement comprises information to enable access by client processes to resources provided by a corresponding service, and wherein said resource is one of said plurality of service advertisement corresponding to a first service.

22. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein said messages are in a data representation language.

23. The method as recited in claim 22, wherein said data representation language is eXtensible Markup Language (XML).

24. A distributed computing system, comprising:

a service device; and

a client device comprising;

a client process executable within said client device; and

a client message endpoint executable within said client device and operatively coupled to said client process, wherein said client message endpoint is configured to send messages to and receive messages from said service device;

wherein said client process is configured to;

obtain lease access to a resource provided by said service device;

wherein said client message endpoint is configured to;

receive a lease renewal request message, wherein said lease renewal request message references said resource provided by said service device; and

send a lease renewal response message, wherein said lease renewal response message requests renewal of said lease access to said resource provided by said service device;

wherein said receiving a lease renewal request message and said sending a lease renewal response message are performed automatically by said client message endpoint without intervention by said client process; and

wherein the client process is configured to send and receive messages via the client message endpoint to access the resource provided by the service.

25. The system as recited in claim 24, wherein said service device is configured to:

receive said lease renewal response message; and

renew said lease access to said referenced resource in response to said receiving said lease renewal response message.

26. The system as recited in claim 24,

wherein said lease access is obtained for a first granted lease period;

and

wherein said lease renewal response message requests renewal of said lease access for a second lease period.

27. The system as recited in claim 26, wherein said service device is configured to:

receive said lease renewal response message; and

grant said lease access to said referenced resource for a second granted lease period in response to said receiving said lease renewal response message.

28. The system as recited in claim 24, wherein said lease renewal response message requests shared lease access to said resource, wherein shared lease access allows other client devices to obtain lease access to said resource contemporarily with said client device.

29. The system as recited in claim 24, wherein said lease renewal response message requests exclusive lease access to said resource, wherein exclusive lease access prevents other client devices from obtaining lease access to said resource contemporarily with said client device.

30. The system as recited in claim 24, wherein said service device is a space service device, wherein said space service device comprises a plurality of service advertisements, wherein each service advertisement comprises information to enable access by client devices to resources provided by a corresponding service device, and wherein said resource is one of said plurality of service advertisement corresponding to a first service device.

31. The system as recited in claim 24, wherein said messages are in a data representation language.

32. The system as recited in claim 31, wherein said data representation language is eXtensible Markup Language (XML).

33. A distributed computing system, comprising:

a service device; and

a client device comprising;

a client process executable within said client device; and

a client message endpoint executable within said client device and operatively coupled to said client process, wherein said client message endpoint is configured to send messages to and receive messages from said service device;

wherein said client process is configured to;

obtain lease access to a resource provided by said service device;

wherein said client message endpoint is configured to;

send, prior to said first granted lease period expiring, a lease renewal message, wherein said lease renewal message requests access to said resource provided by said service device for a second lease period;

wherein said sending a lease renewal message is performed automatically by the client message endpoint without client process intervention; and

wherein the client process is configured to send and receive messages via the client message endpoint to access the resource provided by the service.

34. The system as recited in claim 33, wherein said service device is configured to:

receive said lease renewal message; and

grant access to said referenced resource for a second granted lease period in response to said receiving said lease renewal response message.

35. The system as recited in claim 34, wherein said service device is further configured to send to said client message endpoint a lease renewal response message advising said client process of said second granted lease period.

36. The system as recited in claim 33, wherein said client device is further operable to:

access a service advertisement for enabling access by client devices to resources provided by said service device, said service advertisement comprising;

a message schema comprising descriptions of messages for managing leases of resources provided by said service device; and

an address for said service device receiving said messages for managing leases of resources provided by said service device;

wherein said client message endpoint is further operable to;

generate said lease renewal message in accordance with a description of said lease renewal message comprised in said descriptions of messages; and

wherein said lease renewal message is sent by said client message endpoint to said address for said service device receiving said messages.

37. The system as recited in claim 36, wherein said address is a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI).

38. The system as recited in claim 33, wherein said service device is a space service device, wherein said space service device comprises a plurality of service advertisements, wherein each service advertisement comprises information to enable access by client devices to resources provided by a corresponding service device, and wherein said resource is one of said plurality of service advertisement corresponding to a first service device.

39. The system as recited in claim 33, wherein said messages are in a data representation language.

40. The system as recited in claim 39, wherein said data representation language is eXtensible Markup Language (XML).

41. A tangible computer accessible medium comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:

a client process obtaining lease access to a resource provided by a service, wherein said client process is operatively coupled to a client message endpoint configured to send messages to and receive messages from said service;

said client message endpoint receiving a lease renewal request message, wherein said lease renewal request message references said resource provided by said service; and

said client message endpoint sending a lease renewal response message, wherein said lease renewal response message requests renewal of said lease access to said resource provided by said service;

wherein said receiving a lease renewal request message and said sending a lease renewal response message are performed automatically by said client message endpoint without intervention by said client process; and

wherein the client process is configured to send and receive messages via the client message endpoint to access the resource provided by the service.

42. The computer accessible medium as recited in claim 41, wherein the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement:

said service receiving said lease renewal response message; and

said service renewing said lease access to said referenced resource in response to said receiving said lease renewal response message.

43. The computer accessible medium as recited in claim 41,

wherein said lease access is obtained for a first granted lease period;

and

wherein said lease renewal response message requests renewal of said lease access for a second lease period; and

wherein the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement;

said service receiving said lease renewal response message; and

said service granting said lease access to said referenced resource for a second granted lease period in response to said receiving said lease renewal response message.

44. The computer accessible medium as recited in claim 41, wherein said messages are in a data representation language.

45. The computer accessible medium as recited in claim 44, wherein said data representation language is eXtensible Markup Language (XML).

46. A tangible computer accessible medium comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:

a client process obtaining access to a resource provided by a service for a first granted lease period, wherein said client process is operatively coupled to a client message endpoint configured to send messages to said service;

said client message endpoint sending, prior to said first granted lease period expiring, a lease renewal message, wherein said lease renewal message requests access to said resource provided by said service for a second lease period;

wherein said sending a lease renewal message is performed automatically by the client message endpoint without client process intervention; and

wherein the client process is configured to send and receive messages via the client message endpoint to access the resource provided by the service.

47. The computer accessible medium as recited in claim 46, wherein the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement:

said service receiving said lease renewal message; and

said service granting access to said referenced resource for a second granted lease period in response to said receiving said lease renewal response message; and

said service sending to said client message endpoint a lease renewal response message advising said client process of said second granted lease period.

48. The computer accessible medium as recited in claim 46, wherein said service is a space service, wherein said space service comprises a plurality of service advertisements, wherein each service advertisement comprises information to enable access by client processes to resources provided by a corresponding service, and wherein said resource is one of said plurality of service advertisement corresponding to a first service.

49. The computer accessible medium as recited in claim 46, wherein said messages are in a data representation language.

50. The computer accessible medium as recited in claim 49, wherein said data representation language is eXtensible Markup Language (XML).