Method and Apparatus for Facilitating Device Redundancy in a Fault-Tolerant System
First Claim
1. A method of common device redundancy for a set of devices in a redundancy group, each of the devices being in either an active role or a standby role, the method comprising:
- storing virtual configurations for the devices in a management system;
periodically sending, from each of the devices in the active role, advertisements to each of the devices in the redundancy group, each of the advertisements including a configuration sequence number;
announcing an update in one of the virtual configurations by incrementing the configuration sequence number in at least one of the advertisements; and
obtaining, at each of the devices in the standby role, an updated virtual configuration from the management system in response to detecting the configuration sequence number as incremented in the at least one advertisement.
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Abstract
Method and apparatus for facilitating device redundancy in a fault tolerant system is described. One aspect of the invention relates to common redundancy for a set of devices in a redundancy group. Each of the devices is in either an active role or a standby role. Virtual configurations for the devices are stored in a management system. Advertisements are periodically sent from each of the devices in the active role to each of the devices in the redundancy group. Each of the advertisements includes a configuration sequence number. An update in one of the virtual configurations is announced by incrementing the configuration sequence number in at least one of the advertisements. An updated virtual configuration is obtained at each of the devices in the standby role from the management system in response to detecting the configuration sequence number as incremented in the at least one advertisement.
30 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of common device redundancy for a set of devices in a redundancy group, each of the devices being in either an active role or a standby role, the method comprising:
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storing virtual configurations for the devices in a management system; periodically sending, from each of the devices in the active role, advertisements to each of the devices in the redundancy group, each of the advertisements including a configuration sequence number; announcing an update in one of the virtual configurations by incrementing the configuration sequence number in at least one of the advertisements; and obtaining, at each of the devices in the standby role, an updated virtual configuration from the management system in response to detecting the configuration sequence number as incremented in the at least one advertisement. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A fault-tolerant system, comprising:
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a set of devices in a redundancy group, each of the devices being in either an active role or a standby role; and a management system for storing virtual configurations for the devices; wherein each of the devices in the active role is configured to periodically send advertisements to each of the devices in the redundancy group, each of the advertisements including a configuration sequence number; wherein each of the devices in the standby role is configured to obtain an updated virtual configuration from the management system in response to detection of an incremented configuration sequence number in the at least one advertisement. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. Apparatus for common device redundancy for a set of devices in a redundancy group, each of the devices being in either an active role or a standby role, the method comprising:
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means for storing virtual configurations for the devices in a management system; means for periodically sending, from each of the devices in the active role, advertisements to each of the devices in the redundancy group, each of the advertisements including a configuration sequence number; means for announcing an update in one of the virtual configurations by incrementing the configuration sequence number in at least one of the advertisements; and means for obtaining, at each of the devices in the standby role, an updated virtual configuration from the management system in response to detecting the configuration sequence number as incremented in the at least one advertisement. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification