Global server load balancing
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A method of providing load balancing among host servers, the method comprising:
- determining a number of active host servers bound to each of a plurality of virtual addresses respectively residing at each of a plurality of site switches; and
arranging said virtual addresses as an ordered list by selecting one of said virtual address having a greatest said determined number of active host servers bound to it as a candidate optimum virtual address in said ordered list.
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Abstract
A global server load-balancing (GSLB) switch serves as a proxy to an authoritative DNS and communicates with numerous site switches that are coupled to host servers serving specific applications. The GSLB switch receives from site switches operational information regarding host servers within the site switches neighborhood. When a client program requests a resolution of a host name, the GSLB switch, acting as a proxy of an authoritative DNS, returns one or more ordered IP addresses for the host name. The IP addresses are ordered using metrics that include the information collected from the site switches or based on other metric information. Examples of metrics include weighted site, weighted IP, and active bindings metrics. The GSLB switch places the address that is deemed “best” at the top of the list.
241 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method of providing load balancing among host servers, the method comprising:
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determining a number of active host servers bound to each of a plurality of virtual addresses respectively residing at each of a plurality of site switches; and arranging said virtual addresses as an ordered list by selecting one of said virtual address having a greatest said determined number of active host servers bound to it as a candidate optimum virtual address in said ordered list. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method, comprising:
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determining a number of active host servers bound to each of a plurality of virtual addresses; receiving a list of virtual addresses; and arranging the virtual addresses in the list of virtual addresses to identify at least one virtual address, having a highest said determined number of active host servers bound to it, from the list as a candidate optimum virtual address to receive traffic. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. An article of manufacture, comprising:
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a storage medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable by a processor to; determine a number of active servers that are bound to each of a plurality of virtual addresses; and arrange a list of virtual address to identify a virtual address having a determined most number of active servers bound to it as a candidate optimum virtual address to receive traffic. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A load balancing system, comprising:
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a means for determining a number of active servers that are bound to each of a plurality of virtual addresses; and a means for arranging a list of virtual addresses by selecting one of said virtual addresses that has a greatest determined number of active host servers bound to it as a candidate optimum virtual address to receive traffic. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. An apparatus to balance load among host servers, the apparatus comprising:
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a load balance switch having a controller to arrange a list of virtual addresses to identify an optimum virtual address from the list of virtual addresses, wherein a number of active ones of the host servers are bound to each of said virtual addresses, the controller being adapted to identify as a candidate for the optimum virtual address one of said virtual addresses having a largest said number of active ones of the host servers bound to it. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A site switch apparatus comprising:
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at least one port configurable to have at least one host server bound thereto, wherein each of said at least one port is configurable to be respectively associated with an individual one of a plurality of virtual addresses; and a metric agent configurable to communicate, to a load balance switch, a number of active ones of said at least one host server bound to said at least one port, the number of active ones of said at least one host server being usable by the load balance switch to arrange a list of network addresses, by selection as an optimum address one of said virtual addresses from said list of network addresses that has a largest said number of active ones of said host servers bound to that virtual address'"'"' associated port.
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21. An apparatus to balance load among host servers, the apparatus comprising:
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a load balance switch having; a storage medium having instructions stored thereon; and a controller coupled to said storage medium and adapted execute said instructions stored on said storage medium to arrange a list of virtual addresses to identify a particular one of said virtual addresses from the list of virtual addresses as a candidate optimum virtual address to receive traffic based at least in part on a computed relative weight associated with each virtual address, said particular virtual address having a computed least relative weight as compared to computed relative weights of other ones of said virtual addresses in said list, wherein said relative weight of said particular virtual address is computed by said controller based on assigned weights of all of said virtual addresses, on a count of times that said particular virtual address was previously selected as the optimum virtual address, and on the assigned weight of said particular virtual address. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of providing load balancing among host servers, the method comprising:
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for each of a plurality of virtual addresses respectively residing at each of a plurality of site switches, determining a relative weight based on a weight assigned to at least one of the virtual addresses, the assigned weight being indicative of an amount of traffic that the virtual address is to receive relative to at least another virtual address; and arranging the virtual addresses as an ordered list by selecting one of said virtual addresses that has a least said determined relative weight as a candidate optimum virtual address. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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28. An apparatus to balance load among host servers, the apparatus comprising:
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a load balance switch having a controller to arrange a list of network addresses to identify a candidate optimum network address from the list of network addresses based at least in part on a respective weight indicative of an amount of traffic to be received by each of said network addresses of said list, wherein said controller is adapted to calculate a relative weight for each network address based on the respective weight of each network address and based on a count of times that each respective network address was previously selected as an optimum network address, and wherein said controller is adapted to identify one of said network addresses having a calculated least relative weight as said candidate optimum network address. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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Specification