Endpoint-to-endpoint communications status monitoring

• US 8,824,335 B2
• Filed: 03/21/2012
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Mishra, Rajeev, Russell, Lance W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Phillips, Hassan
• Assistant Examiner(s): SWEET, LONNIE V
• Application Number:
  US13/425,649
• Publication Number:
  US 20120203897A1
• Time in Patent Office: 895 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/062 related to network traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 by checking connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/55 Testing of service level quality, e.g. simulating service usage

Abstract

Communication ability between nodes in a cluster-based computer system is tracked to inform applications executing on the nodes of the existence and quality of the endpoint-to-endpoint communications available between the nodes. Communications between a node and other nodes are tracked, and a database records the communication ability between the node and the other nodes for each link between the nodes. The tracking and recording are repeated at the other nodes. A registration by an application executing at a particular one of the nodes to receive notifications of changes in the communication ability with another node over a particular link (or in general) will cause notification of the application when the link status changes.

Claims

1. A method for determining communication status among a cluster of nodes of a computer system, the method comprising:

at a node within the cluster of nodes, tracking communications received from other nodes within the cluster of nodes;

recording a result of the tracking to provide a database of communication ability between the node and the other nodes;

repeating the tracking and recording at the other nodes in the cluster of nodes to generate additional databases of communication ability at corresponding ones of the other nodes that track the ability of the corresponding node to communicate with remaining nodes in the cluster;

at a particular one of the nodes, receiving a registration request from an application executing at the particular one of the nodes to receive information indicative of the ability of the application to communicate with another specified node within the cluster of nodes; and

responsive to receiving the registration request, subsequently providing notifications to the application if the ability to communicate with the another specified node changes, wherein the notifications contain information indicative of the ability of the application to communicate with the another specified node.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the tracking tracks ordinary communications among the cluster of nodes.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising generating traffic among the cluster of nodes in order to increase the amount of information available to the tracking, and wherein the tracking tracks both the generated traffic and the ordinary communications.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating traffic among the cluster of nodes in order to increase the amount of information available to the tracking, and wherein the tracking tracks only the generated traffic.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the recording further records an indication of one or more hardware interfaces over which the tracked communications occur, and wherein the providing further provides the indication of the one or more hardware interfaces to the application as part of the information indicative of the ability of the application to communicate with the another specified node.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the recording further records a type of the hardware interfaces over which the tracked communications occur, and wherein the notifying further provides the type of the one or more hardware interfaces to the application as part of the information indicative of the ability of the application to communicate with the another specified node.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the recording further records an indication of time at which the tracked communications last occurred for the corresponding other nodes, and wherein the notifying further provides the indication of the time that the tracked communication last occurred with the another specified node as part of the information indicative of the ability of the application to communicate with the another specified node.