Dynamic throttling systems and services

• US 9,729,557 B1
• Filed: 05/16/2016
• Issued: 08/08/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Powers, III, Ernest S., Slotnick, Stephen A., Sanyal, Soumya, Zhou, Mack, Tavis, Matthew T., Hui, John Wai Yam, Schermerhorn, Charles Porter
• Primary Examiner(s): Cribbs, Malcolm
• Application Number:
  US15/155,890
• Time in Patent Office: 449 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/105 Arrangements for software license management or administration, e.g. for managing licenses at corporate level
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/1077 Recurrent authorisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/205 Parsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/741 Holding a request until resources become available
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/745 Reaction in network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/823 Prediction of resource usage
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/826 Involving periods of time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/108 when the policy decisions are valid for a limited amount of time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1441 Countermeasures against malicious traffic countermeasures against attacks on cryptographic mechanisms H04L9/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70

Abstract

A lightweight throttling mechanism allows for dynamic control of access to resources in a distributed environment. Each request received by a server of a server group is parsed to determine tokens in the request, which are compared with designated rules to determine whether to process or reject the request based on usage data associated with an aspect of the request, the token values, and the rule(s) specified for the request. The receiving of each request can be broadcast to throttling components for each server such that the global state of the system is known to each server. The system then can monitor usage and dynamically throttle requests based on real time data in a distributed environment.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for determining access to a resource in an electronic environment, comprising:

receiving a request for access to a resource;

parsing the request to determine a token associated with the request, the token being associated with at least a parameter of the request and the token being associated with a source of access requests to the resource;

receiving one or more instances of request data associated with the token from one or more throttling components associated with a server group;

tracking an amount of requests associated with the token over time based at least in part on the received one or more instances of request data;

determining whether to indicate the source associated with the token as a candidate for throttling based at least in part on the amount of requests associated with the token;

requesting an approval to throttle the source based at least in part on determining that the amount of requests associated with the token over time exceeds a limit;

receiving a response to the request for approval; and

throttling the source based at least in part on the response to the request for approval.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein tracking the amount of requests associated with the token over time further comprises determining an aggregate amount of requests associated with the token corresponding to one or more related requests by a plurality of servers associated with the server group.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether to indicate a source associated with the token as a candidate for throttling further comprises determining whether the source is violating one or more terms of a license.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising generating a prompt for display to a user associated with the source, the prompt indicating that the source is exceeding the license.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising generating a prompt for display to a user associated with the source, the prompt indicating an alternative license available for upgrade.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

based on a first allowed number of requests associated with a first interval, determining a second allowed number of requests based on a second interval; and

wherein determining whether to indicate a source associated with the token as a candidate for throttling further comprises determining whether the source is exceeding an amount of requests associated with the second allowed number of requests and second interval.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second interval is associated with a rate at which the one or more instances of request data are periodically received from the one or more throttling components.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the one or more throttling components do not store past history information.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

applying a throttling rule to the source based at least in part on the approval to throttle the source.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein requesting the approval to throttle the source further comprises generating a prompt for display to a user that conveys information about the source.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that direct one or more computer systems to collectively, at least:

receive a request for access to a resource;

parse the request to determine a token associated with the request, the token being associated with at least a parameter of the request and the token being associated with a source of access requests to the resource;

receive one or more instances of request data associated with the token from one or more throttling components associated with a server group;

track an amount of requests associated with the token over time based at least in part on the received one or more instances of request data;

determine whether to indicate the source associated with the token as a candidate for throttling based at least in part on the amount of requests associated with the token;

request an approval to throttle the source based at least in part on determining that the amount of requests associated with the token over time exceeds a limit;

receive a response to the request for approval; and

throttle the source based at least in part on the response to the request for approval.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein determining whether to indicate a source associated with the token as a candidate for throttling further comprises determining whether an amount of requests associated with the token exceeds a resource access request amount ordinarily associated with the source.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein determining whether to indicate a source associated with the token as a candidate for throttling further comprises applying a throttling rule associated with the source based in part on the amount of requests associated with the token over time.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein determining whether to indicate a source associated with the token as a candidate for throttling further comprises determining that the source meets one or more review criteria, and generating a prompt for display to a user that conveys information about the source.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein determining whether to indicate a source associated with the token as a candidate for throttling further comprises determining that the source is violating one or more terms of a license, applying a throttling rule associated with the license, and generating a prompt for display to a user associated with the source based on the determining that the source is exceeding the license.

16. A computerized system for determining access in an electronic environment, comprising:

one or more computing resources having one or more processors and memory including executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computerized system to, at least;

maintain a resource for which a request for access is received;

parse the request for access to the resource to determine a token associated with the request, the token being associated with at least a parameter of the request;

receive one or more instances of request data associated with the token across a server group at one or more throttling components associated with the server group;

track an amount of requests associated with the token over time based at least in part on the received one or more instances of request data;

determine whether to indicate the source associated with the token as a candidate for throttling based at least in part on the amount of requests associated with the token;

request an approval to throttle the source based at least in part on determining that the amount of requests associated with the token over time exceeds a limit;

receive a response to the request for approval; and

throttle the source based at least in part on the response to the request for approval.

17. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein the system is further configured to cause the one or more throttling components to send information concerning the one or more instances of request data to one another, to determine an aggregate amount of requests associated with the source based on the information, and to determine whether to indicate the source associated with the token as a candidate for throttling based at least on part on the aggregate amount of requests associated with the source.

18. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein the system is further configured to compare the amount of requests associated with the token with a amount of requests permitted by a license associated with the source, and determine whether to indicate the source associated with the token as a candidate for throttling based at least in part on whether the amount of requests associated with the token exceeds the amount of requests permitted by the license.

19. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein the system is further configured to generate a prompt for display to a user that conveys information about the source when the source associated with the token is indicated as a candidate for throttling.

20. The computerized system of claim 16, wherein the system is further configured to generate a prompt for display to a user associated with the source when the source associated with the token is indicated as a candidate for throttling, the prompt including at least an indication that the source is exceeding a limitation.