Stateful failover of service managers
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for performing one or more network services, comprising:
- monitoring a plurality of packets associated with a communications flow at a primary service manager;
providing a plurality of instructions associated with the packets in order to provide a network service, one or more of the instructions including an expiration time interval that designates a time interval to be used in processing one or more packets included in the communications flow, at least one instruction being removed upon expiration of the expiration time interval of the at least one instruction;
replicating one or more of the instructions;
communicating one or more of the instructions to a backup service manager; and
invoking the backup service manager when the primary service manager experiences a failure, wherein the backup service manager is operable to perform one or more operations that were being performed by the primary service manager.
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Abstract
A system and method are disclosed for providing a fault tolerant network service. A packet is received that corresponds to a flow from a forwarding agent at a primary service manager and instructions are determined at the primary service manager for handling packets corresponding to the flow. The instructions are sent to the forwarding agent and the instructions are stored at the primary service manager. A replication packet is sent to a backup service manager. The replication packet includes the instructions for handling packets corresponding to the flow.
104 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A method for performing one or more network services, comprising:
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monitoring a plurality of packets associated with a communications flow at a primary service manager; providing a plurality of instructions associated with the packets in order to provide a network service, one or more of the instructions including an expiration time interval that designates a time interval to be used in processing one or more packets included in the communications flow, at least one instruction being removed upon expiration of the expiration time interval of the at least one instruction; replicating one or more of the instructions; communicating one or more of the instructions to a backup service manager; and invoking the backup service manager when the primary service manager experiences a failure, wherein the backup service manager is operable to perform one or more operations that were being performed by the primary service manager. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A system for performing one or more network services, comprising:
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means for monitoring a plurality of packets associated with a communications flow; means for providing a plurality of instructions associated with the packets in order to provide a network service, one or more of the instructions including an expiration time interval that designates a time interval to be used in processing one or more packets included in the communications flow, at least one instruction being removed upon expiration of the expiration time interval of the at least one instruction; means for replicating one or more of the instructions; means for communicating one or more of the instructions; and means for invoking a backup service manager when a failure occurs, wherein the backup service manager is operable to perform one or more operations that were being performed by a primary service manager. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. Software for performing one or more network services, the software being embodied in a computer readable medium and comprising computer code such that when executed is operable to:
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monitor a plurality of packets associated with a communications flow; provide a plurality of instructions associated with the packets in order to provide a network service, one or more of the instructions including an expiration time interval that designates a time interval to be used in processing one or more packets included in the communications flow, at least one instruction being removed upon expiration of the expiration time interval of the at least one instruction; replicate one or more of the instructions; communicate one or more of the instructions; and invoke a backup service manager when a failure occurs, wherein the backup service manager is operable to perform one or more operations that were being performed by a primary service manager. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. An apparatus, for performing one or more network services, comprising:
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a primary service manager operable to monitor a plurality of packets associated with a communications flow, the primary service manager providing a plurality of instructions associated with processing of the packets in order to provide a network service, the primary service manager being further operable to replicate one or more of the instructions, one or more of the instructions including an expiration time interval that designates a time interval to be used in processing one or more packets included in the communications flow, at least one instruction being removed upon expiration of the expiration time interval of the at least one instruction; and a backup service manager configured to receive one or more of the instructions from the primary service manager, wherein the backup service manager may be invoked when the primary service manager experiences a failure, and wherein the backup service manager is configured to perform one or more operations that were being performed by the primary service manager. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification