Systems and methods to uniquely identify assets in a federation

• US 8,683,043 B1
• Filed: 09/15/2011
• Issued: 03/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Edgio Incorporated
• Original Assignee: EdgeCast Networks (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Peters, Robert J., Kazerani, Alexander A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Etienne, Ario
• Assistant Examiner(s): Alam, Uzma
• Application Number:
  US13/234,015
• Time in Patent Office: 922 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/219, 709/220, 709/227, 709/249, 707/661, 707/802, 707/803
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1433 during software upgrading
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1471 involving logging of persistent data for recovery
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3409 for performance assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2471 Distributed queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/256 in federated or virtual databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/46 Multiprogramming arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/541 via adapters, e.g. between incompatible applications
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0605 Supply or demand aggregation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/42 Loop networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0813 characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 : Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

Some embodiments provide different frameworks that implement conflict avoidance systems and methods for ensuring uniqueness in identifying assets for different customers that are deployed to server capacity of one or more distributed platforms participating in a federation. Specifically, different frameworks are provided whereby the distributed platforms authorize use of a domain before configuring the domain to identify assets of a customer. A method performed in one such framework includes receiving a domain that is specified for identifying assets of a first customer belonging to a first distributed platform of the federation. The method determines whether the domain conflicts with a domain that is configured by a second distributed platform of the federation. The method then communicates with the first distributed platform (i) to configure the received domain when there is no conflict and (ii) to prevent the first distributed platform from configuring the received domain when there is a conflict.

Claims

1. A federation comprising:

a first distributed platform operating a first set of servers to serve assets of a first plurality of customers of the first distributed platform on behalf of the first plurality of customers, wherein the first distributed platform configures a first set of domains for requesting the assets of the first plurality of customers from the first distributed platform;

a second distributed platform operating a second set of servers independent of the first distributed platform to serve assets of a second plurality of customers of the second distributed platform on behalf of the second plurality of customers, wherein the second distributed platform configures a second set of domains for requesting the assets of the second plurality of customers from the second distributed platform; and

an authorization process operable to ensure that a domain configured by the first distributed platform does not conflict with any domain of the second set of domains configured by the second distributed platform when an asset for a customer of the first plurality of customers of the first distributed platform is to be served using at least one server of the second set of servers.

2. The federation of claim 1, wherein the authorization process is operable to further ensure that a domain configured by the second distributed platform does not conflict with any domain of the first set of domains when an asset for a customer of the second plurality of customers of the second distributed platform is to be served using at least one server of the first set of servers.

3. The federation of claim 1, wherein the authorization process is executed using a processor of a server that is communicably coupled to the first and second distributed platforms, and wherein the server (i) monitors domains that have been configured by the first and second distributed platforms and (ii) verifies that a domain that is to be configured by either the first and second platforms does not conflict with domains that have been configured.

4. The federation of claim 1, wherein the authorization process is executed using a processor of a server that is communicably coupled to the first and second distributed platforms, and wherein the server brokers domain authorization by using the first distributed platform to determine whether a domain to be configured by the second distributed platform is conflicting with any domain of the first set of domains and by using the second distributed platform to determine whether a domain to be configured by the first distributed platform is conflicting with any domain of the second set of domains.

5. The federation of claim 1, wherein the authorization process communicably couples the first distributed platform to the second distributed platform, wherein the first distributed platform communicably couples to the second distributed platform to determine whether a domain to be configured by the first distributed platform is conflicting with any domain of the second set of domains, and wherein the second distributed platform communicably couples to the first distributed platform to determine whether a domain to be configured by the second distributed platform is conflicting with any domain of the first set of domains.

6. The federation of claim 1, wherein the first distributed platform maintains a database to store the first set of domains that have been configured by the first distributed platform, and wherein the second distributed platform maintains a database to store the second set of domains that have been configured by the second distributed platform.

7. The federation of claim 1, wherein the authorization process is operable to further ensure that a CNAME entry in a DNS record that aliases a domain configured by the first distributed platform does not conflict with a CNAME entry in a DNS record that aliases a domain of the second set of domains when an asset for a customer of the first distributed platform is to be served using at least one server of the second set of servers.

8. A first distributed platform of a plurality of distributed platforms operating in a federation, the first distributed platform comprising:

a set of servers operated by the first distributed platform independently of sets of servers operated by each of the other distributed platforms operating in the federation, wherein each set of servers that is operated by a distributed platform operating in the federation is configured to cache and serve a plurality of different assets on behalf of a plurality of customers of the distributed platform;

an administrative server comprising at least one processor, the administrative server, by operation of the processor, providing;

i) a user interface operable to specify an alias that identifies an asset of a customer of the first distributed platform, wherein said asset is served by a server of the set of servers that is operated by a second distributed platform of the plurality of distributed platforms;

ii) a communication interface to the federation with which the first distributed platform verifies that said alias is unique with respect to aliases that have been configured to identify assets of other customers whose assets are served by the set of servers operated by the second distributed platform; and

a traffic management server that is configured with said alias when said alias is unique relative to other aliases that have been configured to identify assets of other customers whose assets are served by the set of servers operated by the second distributed platform, wherein the traffic management server resolves a request with said alias for an asset of the customer to the server operated by the second distributed platform that serves said asset.

9. The first distributed platform of claim 8, wherein the communication interface to the federation comprises a communication interface to the second distributed platform for the second distributed platform to verify that said alias is unique with respect to aliases that have been configured to identify assets of other customers whose assets are served by the set of servers operated by the second distributed platform.

10. The first distributed platform of claim 9, wherein the communication interface to the federation further comprises a communication interface to a third distributed platform of the plurality of distributed platforms for the third distributed platform to verify that said alias is unique with respect to aliases that have been configured to identify assets of other customers whose assets are served by the set of servers operated by the third distributed platform.

11. The first distributed platform of claim 8, wherein the communication interface to the federation comprises a communication interface to a conflict avoidance server of the federation that monitors the aliases that have been configured for identifying assets that are served by the sets of servers operated by the plurality of distributed platforms.

12. The first distributed platform of claim 8, wherein the alias to identify the asset of the customer comprises a first domain that is specified by the customer that is an alias to a second domain that is assigned by the first distributed platform to identify the asset of the customer.

13. The first distributed platform of claim 8, wherein the administrative server deploys the asset of the customer to at least one server of the set of servers that is operated by the second distributed platform when said alias is verified to be unique.

14. The first distributed platform of claim 8, wherein the administrative server configures a server from the set of servers that is operated by the second distributed platform to serve the asset of the customer when said alias is verified to be unique.

15. The first distributed platform of claim 8, wherein the administrative server configures server capacity from at least one server of the set of servers that is operated by the second distributed platform to serve the asset of the customer when said alias is verified to be unique.

16. A first distributed platform of a plurality of distributed platforms that each operate a set of servers as part of a federation, the first distributed platform comprising:

a traffic management service assigning a first domain for use in identifying assets of a particular customer of the first distributed platform; and

an administrative server comprising at least one processor, the administrative server, by operation of the at least processor, providing;

a user interface operable to specify a second domain as an alias to the first domain; and

a communication interface communicably coupling the first distributed platform to the federation, wherein the administrative server performs a message exchange over the communication interface to determine whether the second domain conflicts with any domain that a second distributed platform of the plurality of distributed platforms has configured when said assets of the particular customer are to be deployed to server capacity of the second distributed platform and, wherein the administrative server notifies the traffic management service to configure said second domain as an alias to the first domain when there is no conflict.

17. The first distributed platform of claim 16, wherein the federation comprises conflict avoidance server, and wherein the administrative server performs the message exchange by submitting, through the communication interface, a request to configure said second domain to the conflict avoidance server for the conflict avoidance server to determine whether the second domain conflicts with any domain that the second distributed platform has configured.

18. The first distributed platform of claim 17, wherein the administrative server continues the message exchange by receiving a message from the conflict avoidance server whether said second domain is conflicting.

19. The first distributed platform of claim 16, wherein the administrative server performs the message exchange by submitting, through the communication interface, a request to configure the second domain to the second distributed platform for the second distributed platform to determine whether the second domain conflicts with any domain that the second distributed platform has configured.

20. The first distributed platform of claim 19, wherein the administrative server continues the message exchange by submitting, through the communication interface, a request to configure the second domain to a third distributed platform for the third distributed platform to determine whether the second domain conflicts with any domain that the third distributed platform has configured when said assets of the particular customer are to be further deployed to server capacity of the third distributed platform.

21. The first distributed platform of claim 19, wherein the traffic management service configures a CNAME comprising the second domain as an alias to the first domain when said second domain is not conflicting, wherein said CNAME is used to identify assets of the particular customer.