Managing a high availability framework by enabling and disabling individual nodes

• US 7,548,973 B2
• Filed: 12/02/2002
• Issued: 06/16/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Brower, David, Colrain, Carol Lyndall
• Primary Examiner(s): Winder; Patrice
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kianersi; Mitra
• Application Number:
  US10/308,927
• Publication Number:
  US 20030105867A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,388 Days
• Field of Search: 714/4, 714/47, 709/224, 709/223, 709/225
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/5011 Pool
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/505 Clust
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5061 Partitioning or combining of resources

Abstract

A composite resource is established that includes a plurality of members. Each of the members is capable of providing a comparable service. A coordinator monitors a state of each member of the composite resource. A component requests the service from the coordinator. The coordinator arranges for the service to be provided to the component by a particular member of the composite resource. When the particular member ceases to be active, the service is automatically provided to the component by another member in the composite resource. A state of the composite resource is maintained independently of the state of each member in the composite resource.

Claims

1. A method for providing a service, the method comprising the steps of:

establishing a composite resource for providing said service;

wherein said composite resource includes a plurality of members;

wherein said composite resource maintains data indicating, for each member of the plurality of members, whether the member is enabled or disabled;

wherein enabled members of the composite resource are concurrently executing on one or more nodes;

wherein each enabled member of the composite resource is configured to automatically restart when the node upon which the enabled member is executing is restarted;

wherein each enabled member of the plurality of members is considered to be a candidate, by the composite resource, for providing said service to a component that requests the service from the composite resource;

in response to a particular event, disabling a first member in the plurality of members;

wherein disabling a first member in the plurality of members reconfigures the first member to not automatically restart when the node upon which the member is executing is restarted; and

while the first member is disabled, ceasing to consider the first member as a candidate for providing the service to the component that requests the service from the composite resource.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein ceasing to consider the first member as a candidate includes not restarting the first member when the first member fails.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein ceasing to consider the first member as a candidate includes not starting the member when the composite resource is started.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular event includes receiving a message requesting that the first member be disabled.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

identifying that a first application is dependent on the service received from the first member;

determining that the first member is disabled; and

denying a request to start the first application in response to determining that the first member is disabled.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of identifying that a first application that is dependent on the on the service received from the first member includes identifying that the first application is dependent on the first member being enabled in order for the first application to be started.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining a registry that records an enabled or disabled status for each member in the plurality of members, and wherein disabling the first member includes recording the first member as disabled in the registry.

8. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of enabling the first member in response to receiving a message to enable the first member.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein after the step of enabling the member, the method further comprises the step of starting the first member of the plurality of members of the composite resource in order to provide the service to the component that requests the service from the composite resource.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining a registry that records an enabled or disabled status for each member in the plurality of members, and wherein disabling the first member includes recording the first member as disabled in the registry.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein disabling the first member includes stopping the execution of the first member.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein disabling a first member in the plurality of members includes receiving a message to disable the first member as part of a planned maintenance.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request to restart the first member;

in response to the request, determining whether the first member is disabled;

if the first member is enabled, attempting to restart the first member; and

if the first member is disabled, not attempting to restart the first member.

14. A method for managing components within a framework, the method comprising the steps of:

associating a plurality of members as being part of a composite resource, each of the plurality of members being executable to provide a comparable service, wherein the plurality of members are provided on a plurality of nodes;

receiving, on a first node where a first member of the plurality of members has ceased to execute, a request to restart at least one of the first member and the first node;

in response to receiving the request, performing the steps of;

(a) determining, by consulting the composite resource, a status of the first member as being one of enabled or disabled just prior to the first member ceasing to provide the service;

(b) if the status is enabled, automatically attempting to restart the first member in order to provide the service; and

(c) if the status is disabled, not starting the first member.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein if the status is disabled, the method further comprises the step of providing the service from a second member in the plurality of members.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein determining a status of the first member includes determining, after the first member has failed, the status of the first member.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein determining a status of the first member includes determining, after the first node has failed, the status of the first member.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein determining a status of the first member includes determining the status of the member in order to perform an action to start the first member.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising the steps of:

identifying an application that is dependent on the service in order for the application to start;

if the first member is enabled, automatically attempting to start the application on the first node; and

if the first member is disabled, not attempting to start the application on the first node.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of automatically attempting to start the application on the first node is performed after the step of attempting to restart the first member.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein determining a status of the first member as being one of enabled or disabled includes checking a registry for the status.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein receiving the request includes receiving a request to automatically boot-up the first node after the first node fails.

23. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 14, further comprising instructions for:

receiving a request to restart the first member;

in response to the request, determining whether the first member is disabled;

if the first member is enabled, attempting to restart the first member; and

if the first member is disabled, not attempting to restart the first member.

24. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for managing components within a framework, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

establishing a composite resource for providing said service;

wherein said composite resource includes a plurality of members;

wherein said composite resource maintains data indicating, for each member of the application has been amended as follows;

plurality of members, whether the member is enabled or disabled;

wherein enabled members of the composite resource are concurrently executing on one or more nodes;

wherein each enabled member of the composite resource is configured to automatically restart when the node upon which the enabled member is executing is restarted;

wherein each enabled member of the plurality of members is considered to be a candidate, by the composite resource, for providing said service to a component that requests the service from the composite resource;

in response to a particular event, disabling a first member in the plurality of members;

wherein disabling a first member in the plurality of members reconfigures the first ember to not automatically restart when the node upon which the member is executing is restarted;

and while the first member is disabled, ceasing to consider the first member as a candidate for providing the service to the component that requests the service from the composite resource.

25. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 24, wherein instructions for ceasing to consider the first member as a candidate includes not restarting the first member when the first member fails.

26. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 24, wherein instructions for ceasing to consider the first member as a candidate include instructions for not starting the member when the composite resource is started.

27. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 24, wherein the particular event includes receiving a message requesting that the first member be disabled.

28. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 27, further comprising instructions for performing the steps of:

identifying that a first application is dependent on the service received from the first member;

determining that the first member is disabled; and

denying a request to start the first application in response to determining that the first member is disabled.

29. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 28, wherein the step of identifying that a first application that is dependent on the on the service received from the first member includes identifying that the first application is dependent on the first member being enabled in order for the first application to be started.

30. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 24, wherein instructions for disabling a first member in the plurality of members include receiving a message to disable the first member as part of a planned maintenance.

31. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 30, wherein after the step of enabling the member, the method further comprises the step of starting the first member of the plurality of members of the composite resource in order to provide the service to the component that requests the service from the composite resource.

32. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 31, further comprising instructions for detecting a failure of a first node of a plurality of nodes, upon which the first member of the plurality of members is executing, wherein in response to detecting the failure of the first node after the first member is enabled, the first member on the first node restarts automatically once the first node is restarted.

33. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 24, further comprising instructions for performing the step of maintaining a registry that records an enabled or disabled status for each member in the plurality of members, and wherein disabling the first member includes recording the first member as disabled in the registry.

34. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 24, wherein disabling the first member includes instructions for stopping the execution of the first member.

35. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 24, wherein instructions for disabling a first member in the plurality of members includes receiving a message to disable the first member as part of a planned maintenance.

36. A computer-readable storage medium storing one or more sequences of instructions for managing components within a framework, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

associating a plurality of members as being part of a composite resource, each of the plurality of members being executable to provide a comparable service, wherein the plurality of members are provided on a plurality of nodes;

receiving, on a first node where a first member of the plurality of members has ceased to execute, a request to restart at least one of the first member and the first node;

in response to receiving the request, performing the steps of;

(a) determining, by consulting the composite resource, a status of the first member as being one of enabled or disabled just prior to the first member ceasing to provide the service;

(b) if the status is enabled, automatically attempting to restart the first member in order to provide the service; and

(c) if the status is disabled, not starting the first member.

37. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 36, wherein if the status is disabled, the computer-readable storage medium further comprises instructions for performing the step of providing the service from a second member in the plurality of members.

38. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 36, wherein instructions for determining a status of the first member include instructions for determining, after the first member has failed, the status of the first member.

39. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 36, wherein instructions for determining a status of the first member include instructions for determining, after the first node has failed, the status of the first member.

40. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 36, wherein instructions for determining a status of the first member include instructions for determining the status of the member in order to perform an action to start the first member.

41. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 36, further comprising instructions for performing the steps of:

identifying an application that is dependent on the service in order for the application to start;

if the first member is enabled, automatically attempting to start the application on the first node; and

if the first member is disabled, not attempting to start the application on the first node.

42. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 41, wherein instructions for performing the step of automatically attempting to start the application on the first node is performed after the step of attempting to restart the first member.

43. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 36, wherein instructions for determining a status of the first member as being one of enabled or disabled include instructions for checking a registry for the status.

44. The computer-readable storage medium storing instructions of claim 36, wherein instructions for receiving the request include instructions for receiving a request to automatically boot-up the first node after the first node fails.