Internet-based proxy service for responding to server offline errors

• US 9,628,581 B2
• Filed: 06/02/2015
• Issued: 04/18/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CloudFlare Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CloudFlare Incorporated
• Inventors: Holloway, Lee Hahn, Prince, Matthew Browning
• Primary Examiner(s): Thier, Michael
• Assistant Examiner(s): COX, BRIAN P
• Application Number:
  US14/728,962
• Publication Number:
  US 20160021210A1
• Time in Patent Office: 686 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0209 Architectural arrangements, e.g. perimeter networks or demilitarized zones
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0884 by delegation of authentication, e.g. a proxy authenticates an entity to be authenticated on behalf of this entity vis-à-vis an authentication entity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/145 the attack involving the propagation of malware through the network, e.g. viruses, trojans or worms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/567 Integrating service provisioning from a plurality of service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/59 Providing operational support to end devices by off-loading in the network or by emulation, e.g. when they are unavailable

Abstract

A proxy server receives from a client device a request for a network resource that is hosted at an origin server for a domain. The request is received at the proxy server as a result of a DNS request for the domain resolving to the proxy server. The origin server is one of multiple origin servers that belong to different domains that resolve to the proxy server and are owned by different entities. The proxy server transmits the request to the origin server. Responsive to determining that the origin server is offline, the proxy server determines whether the requested resource is available in cache. If it is in cache, the proxy server retrieves the requested resource from the cache and transmits the requested resource to the client device.

Claims

1. A method in a proxy server for responding to server offline errors, comprising:

receiving, from a client device, a request to perform an action on an identified resource hosted at an origin server for a domain;

transmitting the request to the origin server; and

responsive to determining that the origin server is offline, performing the following;

determining that the requested resource is available in cache,

retrieving the requested resource from the cache,

responsive to determining that the requested resource is an HTML page, rewriting the HTML page to indicate to a user that views the HTML page that it is a cached copy of the HTML page,

transmitting an offline browsing cookie to the client device for the domain such that when a subsequent request is received from the client device for a resource of the domain that includes the offline browsing cookie, a cached version of the requested resource will be served instead of querying the origin server, and

transmitting the rewritten requested resource to the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the origin server is offline includes one of:

receiving a response from the origin server that indicates that the origin server is offline, and determining that the origin server has failed to respond to the request.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein responsive to determining that the origin server is offline, further performing:

responsive to determining that the requested resource is an HTML page, further modifying the requested resource to include an automatic server query script which, when executed by a client network application of the client device, automatically causes a query to be transmitted to the origin server to determine whether it is online.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the automatic server query script, when executed by the client network application of the client device, automatically and periodically queries the origin server to determine whether the origin server is online.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the automatic server query script, when executed by the client network application of the client device, automatically and periodically queries the proxy server to query the origin server to determine whether the origin server is online.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving a query request from the client device as a result of the automatic server query script executing;

querying the origin server; and

responsive to receiving a response from the origin server, deleting the offline browser cookie.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the origin server is offline includes receiving an HTTP status code 5XX.

8. A proxy server to respond to server offline errors, comprising:

A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium to store instructions;

a processor coupled with the non-transitory machine-readable storage medium to process the stored instructions to;

receive, from a client device, a request to perform an action on an identified resource hosted at an origin server for a domain;

transmit the request to the origin server;

determine whether the origin server is offline; and

responsive to a determination that the origin server is offline, perform the following;

determine that the requested resource is available in cache,

retrieve the requested resource from the cache,

responsive to a determination that the requested resource is an HTML page, rewrite the HTML page to indicate to a user that views the HTML page that it is a cached copy of the HTML page,

transmit an offline browsing cookie to the client device for the domain such that when a subsequent request is received from the client device for a resource of the domain that includes the offline browsing cookie, a cached version of the requested resource will be served instead of querying the origin server, and

transmit the rewritten requested resource to the client device.

9. The proxy server of claim 8, wherein the determination that the origin server is offline includes the processor to process the stored instructions to perform one of:

receive a response from the origin server that indicates that the origin server is offline, and determine that the origin server has failed to respond to the request.

10. The proxy server of claim 8, wherein responsive to the determination that the origin server is offline, the processor to process the stored instructions to further perform:

determine that the requested resource is an HTML page;

responsive to the determination that the requested resource is an HTML page, modify the requested resource to include an automatic server query script which, when executed by a client network application of the client device, automatically causes a query to be transmitted to the origin server to determine whether it is online.

11. The proxy server of claim 10, wherein the automatic server query script, when executed by the client network application of the client device, automatically and periodically queries the origin server to determine whether the origin server is online.

12. The proxy server of claim 10, wherein the automatic server query script, when executed by the client network application of the client device, automatically and periodically queries the proxy server to query the origin server to determine whether the origin server is online.

13. The proxy server of claim 12, wherein the processor is further to process the stored instructions to:

receive a query request from the client device as a result of the automatic server query script executing;

query the origin server; and

responsive to receipt of a response from the origin server, delete the offline browser cookie.

14. A proxy server of claim 8, wherein the determination that the origin server is offline includes receipt of an HTTP status code 5XX.

15. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium that provides instructions that, when executed by a processor of a proxy server, cause said processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, from a client device, a request to perform an action on an identified resource hosted at an origin server for a domain;

transmitting the request to the origin server; and

responsive to determining that the origin server is offline, performing the following;

determining that the requested resource is available in cache,

retrieving the requested resource from the cache,

responsive to determining that the requested resource is an HTML page, rewriting the HTML page to indicate to a user that views the HTML page that it is a cached copy of the HTML page,

transmitting an offline browsing cookie to the client device for the domain such that when a subsequent request is received from the client device for a resource of the domain that includes the offline browsing cookie, a cached version of the requested resource will be served instead of querying the origin server, and

transmitting the rewritten requested resource to the client device.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein determining that the origin server is offline includes one of:

receiving a response from the origin server that indicates that the origin server is offline, and determining that the origin server has failed to respond to the request.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein responsive to determining that the origin server is offline, further performing:

responsive to determining that the requested resource is an HTML page, modifying the requested resource to include an automatic server query script which, when executed by a client network application of the client device, automatically causes a query to be transmitted to the origin server to determine whether it is online.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the automatic server query script, when executed by the client network application of the client device, automatically and periodically queries the origin server to determine whether the origin server is online.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the automatic server query script, when executed by the client network application of the client device, automatically and periodically queries the proxy server to query the origin server to determine whether the origin server is online.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving a query request from the client device as a result of the automatic server query script executing;

querying the origin server; and

responsive to receiving a response from the origin server, deleting the offline browser cookie.

21. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein determining that the origin server is offline includes receiving an HTTP status code 5XX.