Remote procedure call for a distributed system

• US 9,804,907 B2
• Filed: 11/06/2013
• Issued: 10/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Anantharam, Sushma, Ghosh, Nirapada, Kamath, Dayavanti Gopal, Kamble, Keshav Govind, Leu, Dar-Ren, Mendon, Chandarani J., Pandey, Vijoy A., Peethambaram, Nandakumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Zele, Krista
• Assistant Examiner(s): NAJEE-ULLAH, TARIQ S
• Application Number:
  US14/072,897
• Publication Number:
  US 20140067924A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,455 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/547 Remote procedure calls [RPC]; Web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/133 Protocols for remote procedure calls [RPC]

Abstract

A distributed system includes first-tier entities, and a master entity in communication with each first-tier entity. The master entity provides a single access point through which an administrator can submit commands to manage all entities. The master entity maintains a table of virtual slots. Each virtual slot points to one of the first-tier entities, and each first-tier entity is pointed to by at least one virtual slot. The processor runs an RPC (remote procedure call) client to submit RPC requests to the first-tier entities, and determines a destination first-tier entity for a given RPC request in response to which virtual slot the administrator submits a command. The distributed system can include second-tier entities, each indirectly communicating with the master entity through a first-tier entity. The table has a virtual slot for each second-tier entity, which points to the first-tier entity acting as proxy for the second-tier entity.

Claims

1. A method of managing a distributed system, comprising:

providing a master switch including a microprocessor, a memory storing an RPC (Remote Procedure Call) client and a virtual slot table having a plurality of virtual slots;

determining, by a master switch, a number of entities in the distributed system to be managed through the master switch, the number of entities including;

a plurality of first-tier switches in direct communication with the master switch, such that each first-tier switch does not communicate through any intervening entities when communicating with the master switch; and

one or more second-tier switches in indirect communication with the master switch through one of the first-tier switches, the one or more second-tier switches being directly connected to the one of the first-tier switches;

wherein the master switch provides a single access point through which an administrator can submit commands to manage all of the first and second tier switches;

assigning, by the master switch, a virtual slot for each first-tier switch and for each second-tier switch in the distributed system, each virtual slot identifying one of the first-tier switches as a destination entity for requests sent to that virtual slot;

receiving, by the master switch, a request from a management station to submit a command to manage a given one of the entities in the distributed system;

determining, by the master switch, one of the virtual slots associated with the request received from the management station; and

running, by the microprocessor of the master switch, the RPC (remote procedure call) client to submit an RPC request to the first-tier switch identified by one of the virtual slots.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving, by the first-tier switch identified by the one of the virtual slots, the RPC request from the master switch;

determining, by the first-tier switch, a virtual slot number from the RPC request, and in response,

determining, by the first-tier switch, whether to perform a function call requested by the RPC request or to forward a request to perform the function call to a second-tier switch for which the first-tier switch acts as an RPC proxy.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing, by the master switch, a communication session with the management station during which the master switch receives the request.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating, by the master switch, over an Ethernet link with the first-tier switch identified by the one of the virtual slots.

5. A method, comprising:

providing a master switch including a microprocessor, a memory storing an RPC (Remote Procedure Call) client and a virtual slot table having a plurality of virtual slots;

running, by the microprocessor of the master switch, the RPC client to submit an RPC request to a first-tier switch of a plurality of first-tier switches in direct communication with the master switch, over a communication network;

determining, by the first-tier switch, a virtual slot number from the RPC request;

determining, by the first-tier switch, in response to the virtual slot number, whether to perform a function call requested by the RPC request or to forward a request to perform the function call to a second-tier switch for which the first-tier switch is an RPC proxy; and

managing, by a first-tier switch, a control plane of a second tier switch of a plurality of second-tier switches which communicate with the master switch only through the first-tier switch;

wherein the master switch provides a single access point through which an administrator can submit commands to manage all of the first and second tier switches.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving, by the first-tier switch, a reply from the second-tier switch to the request; and

sending, by the first-tier switch, an RPC reply to the master switch in response to the reply received from the second-tier switch.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the first-tier switch receives the RPC request from the master switch over an Ethernet link.