User load balancing systems and methods thereof

• US 8,260,924 B2
• Filed: 05/03/2006
• Issued: 09/04/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: BlueTie, Inc.
• Original Assignee: BlueTie, Inc.
• Inventors: Koretz, David A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bengzon, Greg C
• Application Number:
  US11/416,528
• Publication Number:
  US 20070260732A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,316 Days
• Field of Search: 709223-226, 709200-204, 718103-105, 702179-188, 710 6- 7, 710/15, 710/19, 710/29, 710 36- 45, 710 58- 61, 707821-827
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• 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 67/1012 based on compliance of requirements or conditions with available server resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes

Abstract

A method, computer readable medium and system for user load balancing includes identifying when an overall load in at least one of two or more servers exceeds one or more thresholds that are related to one or more user loads. One or more of the user loads in the identified overall load in one of the servers are transferred to one or more of the other servers when the one or more thresholds is exceeded.

Claims

1. A method for user load balancing, the method comprising:

identifying with a user load balancing system when an overall load of one or more user data loads in at least one of two or more storage servers exceeds one or more thresholds, wherein the one or more user data loads in at least one of the two or more storage servers comprises stateful data;

determining with the user load balancing system whether the overall load of one or more user data loads exceeds the one or more thresholds temporarily or persistently;

transferring with the user load balancing system one or more of the user data loads in the identified overall load in one of the storage servers to one or more of the other storage servers only when the one or more thresholds is determined to be exceeded persistently based upon the identifying with the user load balancing system, wherein the transferring further comprises placing the one or more user data loads to be transferred in storage which is read only accessible until the transferring one or more user data loads is completed;

identifying with the user load balancing system any changes to the one or more transferred user data loads which occurred during the transferring; and

updating with the user load balancing system the one or more transferred user data loads with the identified differences; and

updating with the user load balancing system a directory with one or more new locations to the determined one or more other storage servers for each of the one or more transferred user data loads to be configured to respond to a query from an application.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the one or more thresholds comprise at least one of processor utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a first percentage for greater than a first period of time, disk space utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a second percentage, RAM utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a third percentage for a greater than a second period of time, and at least one of I/O read/writes and I/O transactions per second with respect to one of the overall loads at greater than a fourth percentage for greater than a third period of time.

3. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the one or more thresholds comprise at least one of processor utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a first percentage average for greater than a first period of time, disk space utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a second percentage, RAM utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a third percentage average for a greater than a second period of time, and I/O read/writes with respect to one of the overall loads at greater than a fourth percentage for greater than a third period of time.

4. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the transferring further comprises:

determining which of the one or more user data loads in the identified overall load to move to one or more of the other storage servers;

determining which of the one or more other storage servers to move each of the determined one or more user data loads; and

moving the determined one or more user data loads in the identified overall load in the at least one of the storage servers to the determined one or more other storage servers.

5. The method as set forth in claim 4 wherein the moving the determined one or more user data loads further comprises:

transferring the one or more determined user data loads to the determined one or more other storage servers; and

obtaining a verification that each of the one or more transferred user data loads is identical to the corresponding one of the determined one or more user data loads.

6. The method as set forth in claim 4 wherein the determining which of the one or more user data loads in the identified overall load in the at least one of the storage servers to move to one or more of the other storage servers further comprises:

determining an order for moving the determined one or more user data loads based on one or more characteristics; and

moving the determined one or more user data loads in accordance with the determined order.

7. The method as set forth in claim 6 wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least one of the user data loads which is currently inactive, which caused the identified overall load in the at least one of the storage servers to exceed the one or more thresholds, which is the largest in the identified overall load in the at least one storage server, and which has a last login date to an application.

8. The method as set forth in claim 4 wherein the determining which of the one or more other storage servers to move each of the determined one or more user data loads further comprises determining which of the other storage servers has a lowest average utilization of at least one of processor space and memory space and moving the determined one or more user data loads to the determined storage server with the lowest average utilization of at least one of processor space and memory space.

9. The method as set forth in claim 4 wherein the determining which of the one or more other storage servers to move each of the determined one or more user data loads further comprises determining which of the one or more other storage servers need to receive one or more of the user data loads from the identified overall load in the at least one of the storage servers to balance the stored load between the storage servers and moving the determined one or more user data loads to the determined one or more other storage servers to balance the stored load.

10. The method as set forth in claim 4 wherein the determining which of the one or more other storage servers to move each of the determined one or more user data loads further comprises identifying when another storage server has been added to the one or more other storage servers before the determining which of the one or more other storage servers to move each of the determined one or more user data loads.

11. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein the transferring further comprises deleting the transferred one or more of the user data loads in the identified overall load in the at least one of the storage servers after the transferring.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for user load balancing comprising machine executable code which when executed by at least one processor, causes the processor to perform steps comprising:

identifying when an overall load of one or more user data loads in at least one of two or more storage servers exceeds one or more thresholds, wherein the one or more user data loads in at least one of the two or more storage servers comprises stateful data;

determining whether the overall load of one or more user data loads exceeds the one or more thresholds temporarily or persistently;

transferring one or more of the user data loads in the identified overall load in one of the storage servers to one or more of the other storage servers only when the one or more thresholds is determined to be exceeded persistently based upon the identifying, wherein the transferring further comprises placing the one or more user data loads to be transferred in storage which is read only accessible until the transferring one or more user data loads is completed;

identifying any changes to the one or more transferred user data loads which occurred during the transferring; and

updating the one or more transferred user data loads with the identified differences; and

updating a directory with one or more new locations to the determined one or more other storage servers for each of the one or more transferred user data loads to be configured to respond to a query from an application.

13. The medium as set forth in claim 12 wherein the one or more thresholds comprise at least one of processor utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a first percentage for greater than a first period of time, disk space utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a second percentage, RAM utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a third percentage for a greater than a second period of time, and at least one of I/O read/writes and I/O transactions per second with respect to one of the overall loads at greater than a fourth percentage for greater than a third period of time.

14. The medium as set forth in claim 12 wherein the one or more thresholds comprise at least one of processor utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a first percentage average for greater than a first period of time, disk space utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a second percentage, RAM utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a third percentage average for a greater than a second period of time, and I/O read/writes with respect to one of the overall loads at greater than a fourth percentage for greater than a third period of time.

15. The medium as set forth in claim 12 wherein the transferring further comprises:

determining which of the one or more user data loads in the identified overall load to move to one or more of the other storage servers;

determining which of the one or more other storage servers to move each of the determined one or more user data loads; and

moving the determined one or more user data loads in the identified overall load in the at least one of the storage servers to the determined one or more other storage servers.

16. The medium as set forth in claim 15 wherein the moving the determined one or more user data loads further comprises:

transferring the one or more determined user data loads to the determined one or more other storage servers; and

obtaining a verification that each of the one or more transferred user data loads is identical to the corresponding one of the determined one or more user data loads.

17. The medium as set forth in claim 15 wherein the determining which of the one or more user data loads in the identified overall load in the at least one of the storage servers to move to one or more of the other storage servers further comprises:

determining an order for moving the determined one or more user data loads based on one or more characteristics; and

moving the determined one or more user data loads in accordance with the determined order.

18. The medium as set forth in claim 17 wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least one of the user data loads which is currently inactive, which caused the identified overall load in the at least one of the storage servers to exceed the one or more thresholds, which is the largest in the identified overall load in the at least one storage server, and which has a last login date to an application.

19. The medium as set forth in claim 15 wherein the determining which of the one or more other storage servers to move each of the determined one or more user data loads further comprises determining which of the other storage servers has a lowest average utilization of at least one of processor space and memory space and moving the determined one or more user data loads to the determined storage server with the lowest average utilization of at least one of processor space and memory space.

20. The medium as set forth in claim 15 wherein the determining which of the one or more other storage servers to move each of the determined one or more user data loads further comprises determining which of the one or more other storage servers need to receive one or more of the user data loads from the identified overall load in the at least one of the storage servers to balance the stored load between the storage servers and moving the determined one or more user data loads to the determined one or more other storage servers to balance the stored load.

21. The medium as set forth in claim 15 wherein the determining which of the one or more other storage servers to move each of the determined one or more user data loads further comprises identifying when another storage server has been added to the one or more other storage servers before the determining which of the one or more other storage servers to move each of the determined one or more user data loads.

22. The medium as set forth in claim 12 wherein the transferring further comprises deleting the transferred one or more of the user data loads in the identified overall load in the at least one of the storage servers after the transferring.

23. A user load balancing apparatus comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory coupled to the one or more processors, the one or more processors configured to execute programmed instructions stored in the memory comprising;

identifying when an overall load of one or more user data loads in at least one of two or more storage servers exceeds one or more thresholds, wherein the one or more user data loads in at least one of the two or more storage servers comprises stateful data;

determining whether the overall load of one or more user data loads exceeds the one or more thresholds temporarily or persistently;

transferring one or more of the user data loads in the identified overall load in one of the storage servers to one or more of the other storage servers only when the one or more thresholds is determined to be exceeded persistently based upon the identifying, wherein the transferring further comprises placing the one or more user data loads to be transferred in storage which is read only accessible until the transferring one or more user data loads is completed;

identifying any changes to the one or more transferred user data loads which occurred during the transferring; and

updating the one or more transferred user data loads with the identified differences; and

updating a directory with one or more new locations to the determined one or more other storage servers for each of the one or more transferred user data loads to be configured to respond to a query from an application.

24. The apparatus as set forth in claim 23 wherein the one or more thresholds comprise at least one of processor utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a first percentage for greater than a first period of time, disk space utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a second percentage, RAM utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a third percentage for a greater than a second period of time, and at least one of I/O read/writes and I/O transactions per second with respect to one of the overall loads at greater than a fourth percentage for greater than a third period of time.

25. The apparatus as set forth in claim 23 wherein the one or more thresholds comprise at least one of processor utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a first percentage average for greater than a first period of time, disk space utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a second percentage, RAM utilization with respect to one of the overall loads exceeding a third percentage average for a greater than a second period of time, and I/O read/writes with respect to one of the overall loads at greater than a fourth percentage for greater than a third period of time.

26. The apparatus as set forth in claim 23 wherein the transferring further comprises:

determining which of the one or more user data loads in the identified overall load to move to one or more of the other storage servers;

determining which of the one or more other storage servers to move each of the determined one or more user data loads; and

moving the determined one or more user data loads in the identified overall load in the at least one of the storage servers to the determined one or more other storage servers.

27. The apparatus as set forth in claim 26 wherein the moving the determined one or more user data loads further comprises:

transferring the one or more determined user data loads to the determined one or more other storage servers; and

obtaining a verification that each of the one or more transferred user data loads is identical to the corresponding one of the determined one or more user data loads.

28. The apparatus as set forth in claim 26 wherein the determining which of the one or more user data loads in the identified overall load in the at least one of the storage servers to move to one or more of the other storage servers further comprises:

determining an order for moving the determined one or more user data loads based on one or more characteristics; and

moving the determined one or more user data loads in accordance with the determined order.

29. The apparatus as set forth in claim 28 wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least one of the user data loads which is currently inactive, which caused the identified overall load in the at least one of the storage servers to exceed the one or more thresholds, which is the largest in the identified overall load in the at least one storage server, and which has a last login date to an application.

30. The apparatus as set forth in claim 26 wherein the determining which of the one or more other storage servers to move each of the determined one or more user data loads further comprises determining which of the other storage servers has a lowest average utilization of at least one of processor space and memory space and moving the determined one or more user data loads to the determined storage server with the lowest average utilization of at least one of processor space and memory space.

31. The apparatus as set forth in claim 26 wherein the determining which of the one or more other storage servers to move each of the determined one or more user data loads further comprises determining which of the one or more other storage servers need to receive one or more of the user data loads from the identified overall load in the at least one of the storage servers to balance the stored load between the storage servers and moving the determined one or more user data loads to the determined one or more other storage servers to balance the stored load.

32. The apparatus as set forth in claim 26 wherein the determining which of the one or more other storage servers to move each of the determined one or more user data loads further comprises identifying when another storage server has been added to the one or more other storage servers before the determining which of the one or more other storage servers to move each of the determined one or more user data loads.

33. The apparatus as set forth in claim 23 wherein the transferring further comprises deleting the transferred one or more of the user data loads in the identified overall load in the at least one of the storage servers after the transferring.