Active application response delay time

• US 9,942,162 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2014
• Issued: 04/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: A10 Networks Incorporated
• Original Assignee: A10 Networks Incorporated
• Inventors: Golshan, Ali, Grimm, Martin, Yang, Yang
• Primary Examiner(s): Avellino, Joseph E
• Assistant Examiner(s): MCLEOD, MARSHALL M
• Application Number:
  US14/231,421
• Publication Number:
  US 20150281104A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,471 Days
• Field of Search: 709227, 709238, 709239
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/283 in response to processing delays, e.g. caused by jitter or round trip time [RTT]

Abstract

Provided are methods and systems for load balancing client requests between sites associated with a domain name. A method comprises determining a first active response delay time between a local Domain Name System (DNS) server and a first site. The method further comprises determining a first application response delay time between the first site and one or more first servers associated with the first site. According to the method, the first active response delay time and the first application response delay time are compounded to produce a first compounded response delay time. The method further comprises determining a second active response delay time and a second application response delay for a second site to produce a second compounded response delay time. The first compounded response delay time and the second compounded response delay time are compared to perform load balancing between the first site and the second site.

Claims

1. A method for load balancing client requests between a plurality of sites associated with a domain name, the method comprising:

selecting, by a global site load balancer, from a plurality of sites, a first site and a second site, the first site and the second site being associated with the domain name associated with a client request of a client;

determining, by the global site load balancer, a site load balancer associated with the first site and a site load balancer associated with the second site;

instructing, by the global site load balancer, the site load balancer associated with the first site to measure a first active response delay time between a local Domain Name System (DNS) server associated with the client and the site load balancer associated with the first site and instructing, by the global site load balancer, the site load balancer associated with the second site to measure a second active response delay time between the local DNS server associated with the client and the site load balancer associated with the second site;

based on the instructing, determining, by the site load balancer associated with the first site, the first active response delay time between the local DNS server associated with the client and the site load balancer associated with the first site;

determining, by the site load balancer associated with the first site, for each of a plurality of first servers associated with the first site, a first application response delay time between the site load balancer associated with the first site and each of the plurality of first servers associated with the first site;

compounding, by the site load balancer associated with the first site, for each of the plurality of first servers associated with the first site, the first active response delay time and the first application response delay time to produce a first compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of first servers and sending the first compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of first servers to the global site load balancer;

based on the instructing, determining, by the site load balancer associated with the second site, the second active response delay time between the local DNS server and the site load balancer associated with the second site;

determining, by the site load balancer associated with the second site, for each of a plurality of second servers associated with the second site, a second application response delay time between the site load balancer associated with the second site and each of the plurality of second servers associated with the second site;

compounding, by the site load balancer associated with the second site, for each of the plurality of second servers associated with the second site, the second active response delay time and the second application response delay time to produce a second compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of second servers and sending the second compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of second servers to the global site load balancer;

comparing, by the global site load balancer, the first compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of first servers and the second compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of second servers;

based on the comparison, selecting, by the global site load balancer, from the plurality of first servers and the plurality of second servers, a server having a lowest compounded response delay time among the first compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of first servers and the second compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of second servers;

based on the selecting, performing load balancing between the first site and the second site by instructing, by the global site load balancer, the local DNS server to send the client request associated with the client to the selected server using the site load balancer associated with the selected server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first active response delay time includes:

sending a request from the site load balancer associated with the first site to the local DNS server, the request being associated with a first time;

receiving a response from the local DNS server, the response being associated a second time; and

determining a time difference between the first time and the second time; and

wherein determining the second active response delay time includes;

sending a request from the site load balancer associated with the second site to the local DNS server, the request being associated with a first time;

receiving a response from the local DNS server, the response being associated with a second time; and

determining a time difference between the first time and the second time.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first application response delay time includes:

sending a request from the site load balancer associated with the first site to the plurality of first servers associated with the first site, the request being associated with a first time;

receiving a response from the plurality of first servers, the response being associated with a second time; and

determining a time difference between the first time and the second time; and

wherein determining the second application response delay time includes;

sending a request from the site load balancer associated with the second site to the plurality of second servers associated with the second site, the request being associated with a first time;

receiving a response from the plurality of second servers, the response being associated with a second time; and

determining a time difference between the first time and the second time.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising reporting results of the comparison between the first compounded response delay time and the second compounded response delay time to the global site load balancer, wherein the global site load balancer coordinates the load balancing between the first site and the second site.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising routing the client request to the site with a lowest compounded response delay time.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the first active response delay time and the first application response delay time into a database; and

storing the second active response delay time and the second application response delay time into the database.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

retrieving the first application response delay time and the first active response delay time from a database; and

retrieving the second application response delay time and the second active response delay time from the database.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a geographical location for the local DNS server;

determining one or more sites from the plurality of sites based on the client request;

determining a geographical location for the one or more determined sites;

determining that the geographic location for the local DNS server matches the geographic location for the one or more determined sites;

wherein the selecting of the first site and the second site includes;

selecting the first site from the one or more determined sites, wherein a geographic location of the first site matches the geographic location for the local DNS server; and

selecting the second site from the one or more determined sites, wherein a geographic location of the second site matches the geographic location for the local DNS server.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising composing a table of responses, the table of responses including an IP address associated with the local DNS server, an IP address associated with the first site, the first active response delay time, an IP address associated with the second site, and the second active response delay time.

10. A system for load balancing client requests between a plurality of sites associated with a domain name, the system comprising:

a global site load balancer operable to;

select, from a plurality of sites, a first site and a second site, the first site and the second site being associated with the domain name associated with a client request of a client;

determine a site load balancer associated with the first site and a site load balancer associated with the second site;

instruct the site load balancer associated with the first site to measure a first active response delay time between a local Domain Name System (DNS) server associated with the client and the site load balancer associated with the first site and instructing, by the global site load balancer, the site load balancer associated with the second site to measure a second active response delay time between the local DNS server associated with the client and the site load balancer associated with the second site;

compare a first compounded response delay time associated with each of a plurality of first servers and a second compounded response delay time associated with each of a plurality of second servers;

based on the comparison, select, from the plurality of first servers and the plurality of second servers, a server having a lowest compounded response delay time among the first compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of first servers and the second compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of second servers;

based on the selecting, perform load balancing between the first site and the second site by instructing the local DNS server to send the client request associated with the client to the selected server using the site load balancer associated with the selected server;

the site load balancer associated with the first site operable to;

based on the instructing, determine the first active response delay time between the local DNS server and the site load balancer associated with the first site;

determine, for each of the plurality of first servers associated with the first site, a first application response delay time between the site load balancer associated with the first site and each of the plurality of first servers associated with the first site;

compound, for each of the plurality of first servers associated with the first site, the first active response delay time and the first application response delay time to produce a first compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of first servers and send the first compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of first servers to the global site load balancer;

the site load balancer associated with the second site operable to;

based on the instructing, determine the second active response delay time between the local DNS server and the site load balancer associated with the second site;

determine, for each of a plurality of second servers associated with the second site, a second application response delay time between the site load balancer associated with the second site and each of the plurality of second servers associated with the second site; and

compound, for each of the plurality of second servers associated with the second site, the second active response delay time and the second application response delay time to produce the second compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of second servers and send the second compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of second servers to the global site load balancer.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the determining the first active response delay time includes:

sending a request from the site load balancer associated with the first site to the local DNS server, the request being associated with a first time;

receiving a response from the local DNS server, the response being associated a second time;

determining a time difference between the first time and the second time; and

wherein determining the second active response delay time includes;

sending a request from the site load balancer associated with the second site to the local DNS server, the request being associated with a first time;

receiving a response from the local DNS server, the response being associated a second time; and

determining a time difference between the first time and the second time.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the determining the first application response delay time includes:

sending a request from the site load balancer associated with the first site to the plurality of first servers associated with the first site, the request being associated with a first time;

receiving a response from the plurality of first servers, the response being associated with a second time;

determining a time difference between the first time and the second time; and

wherein determining the second application response delay time includes;

sending a request from the site load balancer associated with the second site to the plurality of second servers associated with the second site, the request being associated with a first time;

receiving a response from the plurality of second servers, the response being associated with a second time; and

determining a time difference between the first time and the second time.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the global site load balancer coordinates the load balancing between the first site and the second site based on results of the comparison between the first compounded response delay time and the second compounded response delay time.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the global site load balancer is further operable to:

route the client request to the site with a lowest compounded response delay time.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the global site load balancer is further operable to:

store the first active response delay time and the first application response delay time into a database; and

store the second active response delay time and the application response delay time into the database.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the global site load balancer is further operable to:

retrieve the first application response delay time and the first active response delay time from a database; and

retrieve the second application response delay time and the second active response delay time from the database.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the global site load balancer is further operable to:

determine a geographical location for the local DNS server;

determine one or more sites from the plurality of sites based on the client request;

determine a geographical location for the one or more determined sites;

determine that the geographic location for the local DNS server matches the geographic location for the one or more determined sites;

wherein the selecting of the first site and the second site includes;

selecting the first site from the one or more determined sites, wherein a geographic location of the first site matches the geographic location for the local DNS server; and

selecting the second site from the one or more determined sites, wherein a geographic location of the second site matches the geographic location for the local DNS server.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the global site load balancer is further operable to:

compose a table of responses, the table of responses including an IP address associated with the local DNS server, an IP address associated with the first site, the first active response delay time, an IP address associated with the second site, and the second active response delay time.

19. The system of claim 10, further comprising a database operable to store data associated with the first application response delay time, the first active response delay time, the second application response delay time, the second active response delay time, the first compounded response delay time, and the second compounded response delay time.

20. A non-transitory processor-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement a method for load balancing client requests between sites associated with a domain name, the method comprising:

selecting, by a global site load balancer, from a plurality of sites, a first site and a second site, the first site and the second site being associated with the domain name associated with a client request of a client;

determining, by the global site load balancer, a site load balancer associated with the first site and a site load balancer associated with the second site;

instructing, by the global site load balancer, the site load balancer associated with the first site to measure a first active response delay time between a local Domain Name System (DNS) server associated with the client and the site load balancer associated with the first site and instructing, by the global site load balancer, the site load balancer associated with the second site to measure a second active response delay time between the local DNS server associated with the client and the site load balancer associated with the second site;

based on the instructing, determining, by the site load balancer associated with the first site, the first active response delay time between the local DNS server associated with the client and the site load balancer associated with the first site;

determining, by the site load balancer associated with the first site, for each of a plurality of first servers associated with the first site, a first application response delay time between the site load balancer associated with the first site and each of the plurality of first servers associated with the first site;

compounding, by the site load balancer associated with the first site, for each of the plurality of first servers associated with the first site, the first active response delay time and the first application response delay time to produce a first compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of first servers and sending the first compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of first servers to the global site load balancer;

based on the instructing, determining, by the site load balancer associated with the second site, the second active response delay time between the local DNS server and the site load balancer associated with the second site;

determining, by the site load balancer associated with the second site, for each of a plurality of second servers associated with the second site, a second application response delay time between the site load balancer associated with the second site and each of the plurality of second servers associated with the second site;

compounding, by the site load balancer associated with the second site, for each of the plurality of second servers associated with the second site, the second active response delay time and the second application response delay time to produce a second compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of second servers and sending the second compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of second servers to the global site load balancer;

comparing, by the global site load balancer, the first compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of first servers and the second compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of second servers;

based on the comparison, selecting, by the global site load balancer, from the plurality of first servers and the plurality of second servers, a server having a lowest compounded response delay time among the first compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of first servers and the second compounded response delay time associated with each of the plurality of second servers;

based on the selecting, performing load balancing between the first site and the second site by instructing, by the global site load balancer, the local DNS server to send the client request associated with the client to the selected server using the site load balancer associated with the selected server.