Autonomic content load balancing

• US 9,614,889 B2
• Filed: 05/04/2010
• Issued: 04/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Ehrich, Nathanael F., Joshi, Niraj P., Kenna, Kimberly D., Leah, Robert C.
• Primary Examiner(s): SALAD, ABDULLAHI ELMI
• Application Number:
  US12/773,274
• Publication Number:
  US 20100218107A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,527 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/197 Version control for software G06F8/71
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/726 Reserving resources in multiple paths to be used simultaneously by balancing the load H04L47/125
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1014 based on the content of a request

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for providing autonomic content load balancing. A programmatic selection is made from among alternative content versions based upon current conditions. Preferably, the alternative selectable versions specify content to be used in a Web page, and a version is selected responsive to receiving a request for the Web page. The selectable version may comprise the Web page, or a component of a Web page may have selectable versions. Optionally, the Web page may include more than one component with dynamically-selectable content. In this case, the versions may be selectable independently of one another.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of providing autonomic content load balancing, comprising:

defining, in a server-side data structure for a Web page to be served, that the Web page has a plurality of alternative versions defined and at least one condition for selecting a particular one of the alternative versions, each of the alternative versions having associated therewith at least one value of each of the at least one condition, wherein;

the server-side data structure comprises a directory structure corresponding to files stored on the server;

a directory in the directory structure is associated with the Web page; and

each of the alternative versions corresponds to a distinct entry in the directory;

receiving, at a server from a client, a request for the Web page;

upon determining, by the server from the server-side data structure, that at least one condition is defined for selecting a particular one of the alternative versions of the requested Web page and that the plurality of alternative versions are defined for the requested Web page, selecting a particular one of the defined alternative versions to be used as the requested Web page when responding to the received request, comprising;

determining, by the server from the server-side data structure using information that is distinct from information provided in the request, each of the at least one condition defined for selecting the particular one of the alternative versions and then determining, for each of the determined at least one condition, a current value thereof; and

selecting, by the server as the particular one of the alternative versions, the defined alternative version for which the determined current value of each of the determined at least one condition matches one of the at least one value associated with the condition for the particular one, comprising identifying which of the distinct entries in the directory to serve as the selected alternative version of the Web page; and

serving the selected alternative version of the Web page, from the server to the client, as the requested Web page when responding to the received request.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, by the server, that the alternative versions are defined comprises detecting that syntax defining the requested Web page contains a syntax element which indicates that the plurality of alternative versions are defined.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, by the server, that the alternative versions are defined comprises detecting that an entry in the server-side data structure is associated with the requested Web page, the entry indicating that the plurality of alternative versions are defined.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the alternative versions comprises the Web page represented using a different media type.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein existence of the plurality of alternative versions of the Web page is transparent to software executing on the client.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one condition defined for the Web page comprises at least one of system conditions and network conditions.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

the Web page comprises at least two different portions;

a plurality of alternative selectable versions and at least one portion-specific condition for selecting a particular one of the alternative selectable versions are defined for each of the at least two different portions, each of the alternative selectable portions having associated therewith at least one value of each of the at least one portion-specific condition, wherein a current value of each portion-specific condition is determinable using server-side information that is distinct from information provided in the request;

upon determining, by the server, that at least one portion-specific condition is defined for selecting a particular one of the alternative selectable versions of the at least two different portions and that the plurality of alternative selectable versions are defined for the at least two different portions, selecting, for each of the at least two different portions, a specific one of the defined alternative selectable versions for which a determined current value of each of the at least one portion-specific condition matches one of the at least one value associated with the portion-specific condition for the specific one; and

the serving serves the Web page using, within the selected alternative version of the Web page, the selected specific one for each of the at least two different portions.

8. A computer program product for using dynamically selectable content, the computer program product embodied on one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media and comprising computer-readable program code for:

defining, in a server-side data structure for each of at least two portions of a Web page to be served, that each of the at least two portions has a plurality of alternative selectable versions defined for each of the portions and at least one portion-specific condition for selecting a particular one of the alternative selectable versions, each of the alternative selectable versions having associated therewith at least one value of each of the at least one portion-specific condition,

receiving, at a server from a client, a request for the Web page;

upon determining, by the server from the server-side data structure, that at least one portion-specific condition is defined for selecting a particular one of the alternative selectable versions of at least two portions of the requested Web page and determining that the plurality of alternative selectable versions are defined for the at least two portions by detecting that syntax defining the requested Web page contains a syntax element, for each of the at least two portions, which indicates that the plurality of alternative selectable versions are defined for the portion, performing;

determining, by the server from the server-side data structure using information that is distinct from information provided in the request, each of the at least one portion-specific condition defined for selecting each of the at least two portions and then determining, for each of the determined at least one portion-specific conditions, a current value thereof; and

selecting, by the server for each of the at least two portions, a specific one of the alternative selectable versions to be used in the portion of the requested Web page when responding to the received request, wherein the determined current value of each of the determined at least one portion-specific condition matches one of the at least one value associated with the portion-specific condition for the selected specific one;

serving the requested Web page, from the server to the client, with the selected specific one of each of the at least two portions used therein, when responding to the received request.

9. The computer program product according to claim 8, wherein each of the alternative selectable versions for at least one of the at least two portions comprises the portion represented using a different media type.

10. The computer program product according to claim 8, wherein existence of the plurality of alternative selectable versions of each of the at least two portions is transparent to software executing on the client.

11. The computer program product according to claim 8, wherein the at least one portion-specific condition defined for at least one of the at least two portions comprises at least one of system conditions or network conditions.

12. The computer program product according to claim 8, wherein the at least one portion-specific condition defined for at least one of the at least two portions comprises at least one of:

a number of active users of the server;

processing capacity at the server;

or a number of available servers for serving the content.

13. The computer program product according to claim 8, wherein the at least one portion-specific condition defined for at least one of the at least two portions comprises at least one of:

available network bandwidth between the client and the server;

or average round-trip time for communications between the client and the server.

14. A computer-implemented system for providing autonomic content load balancing, the system comprising a processor and a memory coupled thereto, the memory storing instructions configured to:

receive, at a server from a client, a request for content;

upon determining, by the server by consulting a server-side data structure, that a plurality of alternative versions are defined for the requested content and determining that at least one condition is defined for selecting a particular one of the alternative versions of the requested content by detecting that an entry in the server-side data structure is associated with the requested content, the entry indicating that the plurality of alternative versions are defined, select, by the server, a particular one of the defined alternative versions to be used as the requested content when responding to the received request, comprising;

determining, by the server from the server-side data structure using information that is distinct from information provided in the request, each of the at least one condition for selecting the particular one of the alternative versions and, for each of the determined at least one condition, at least one value thereof which is associated with each of the alternative versions;

determining, by the server using server-side information that is distinct from information provided in the request, a current value of each of the determined at least one condition; and

selecting, by the server as the particular one of the alternative versions, the defined alternative version for which the determined current value of each of the determined at least one condition matches one of the at least one value associated with the condition for the particular one; and

serve the selected alternative version of the content, from the server to the client, as the requested content when responding to the received request.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the instructions configured to determine the current value of each of the determined at least one condition further comprise instructions configured to obtain at least one measurement collected by an automated agent.

16. The system according to claim 14, wherein the instructions configured to determine that the alternative versions are defined further comprise instructions configured to use a network address of the requested content to scan the server-side data structure, the server-side data structure storing information for each content for which alternative versions are defined.

17. The system according to claim 14, wherein the at least one condition comprises at least one of:

a number of active users of the server;

processing capacity at the server; and

a number of available servers for serving the content.