Dynamic HTTP load balancing

• US 9,716,627 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2016
• Issued: 07/25/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Lanzen, Craig A., DeLima, Roberto
• Primary Examiner(s): WINDER, PATRICE L
• Application Number:
  US15/155,374
• Publication Number:
  US 20160261463A1
• Time in Patent Office: 435 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0823 characterised by the purposes of a change of settings, e.g. optimising configuration for enhancing reliability for optimising operational conditions of wireless networks H04W24/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0846 based on copy from other elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0856 by backing up or archiving configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0869 Validating the configuration within one network element
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5009 Determining service level performance parameters or violations of service level contracts, e.g. violations of agreed response time or mean time between failures [MTBF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
• 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 67/10015 Access to distributed or replicated servers, e.g. using brokers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1014 based on the content of a request
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1023 based on a hash applied to IP addresses or costs
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/142 Managing session states for stateless protocols; Signalling session states; State transitions; Keeping-state mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A load balancer computer for configuring a load balancing program in the load balancer for a cluster of servers to dispatch client requests to the servers in the cluster. The load balancer computer includes one or more storage devices and program instructions stored on the storage devices. The program instructions are: to detect that the cluster cannot handle the client requests with a predetermined level of performance, and in response, automatically request configuration information for another server not currently active in the cluster, to configure the load balancing program for adding the other server to the cluster to handle client requests; and to automatically configure the load balancing program for the cluster to add the other server to the cluster in accordance with the configuration information received for the other server. The configuration information configures the load balancing program for the other server based on a cookie affinity rule.

Claims

1. A load balancer computer for configuring a load balancing program for a cluster of servers, the load balancer computer comprising:

one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage devices and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, the program instructions comprising;

program instructions to detect that the cluster cannot handle client requests with a predetermined level of performance, and in response, automatically request configuration information for another server that is not currently active in the cluster, to configure the load balancing program for adding the other server to the cluster to handle client requests; and

program instructions to automatically configure the load balancing program for the cluster to add the other server to the cluster in accordance with the configuration information received for the other server,

wherein the configuration information comprises a cookie affinity rule for sending different requests in a given session to a same server clone in a server group, subject to session affinity cookies being unique to each server in the server group, and wherein a load balancer configures the load balancing program for the other server based on the cookie affinity rule.

2. The load balance computer of claim 1, wherein the configuration information further comprises an address of health information for the other server, and the configuring program instructions configure the load balancing program for the other server to include the address of health information for the other server, and further comprising program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to subsequently query the health of the other server via the address to determine whether the other server is able to handle a client request.

3. The load balance computer of claim 1, wherein the configuration information further comprises a content-based dispatching rule, and the configuring program instructions configure the load balancing program for the other server additionally based on the content-based dispatching rule.

4. The load balance computer of claim 1, wherein the configuration information further comprises a time-of-day rule, and the configuring program instructions configure the load balancing program for the other server additionally based on the time-of-day rule.