Serverless computing-based continuous gateway monitoring for data changes

Abstract

Serverless computing-based continuous gateway monitoring for data changes Serverless computing-based continuous gateway monitoring of a data store for data change processing is provided. The process includes a step in which a gateway interface of a computing environment receives a monitoring request from a user system to monitor the data store for data changes. Based on receiving the monitoring request, the gateway interface invokes a serverless setup service to establish a connection between the gateway interface and the data store of the computing environment to be monitored for data changes. Based on receiving a data change indication from the data store at the gateway interface, the gateway interface invokes a serverless message processing service to change the data change indication from the data store into a changed data change message indicating a data change in the data store for return to the user system in accordance with the monitoring request, and the serverless message processing service then terminates.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] One or more aspects relate generally to processing within a computing environment, and more particularly to improving gateway-related processing within a computing environment.

[0002] A continuous change notification application programming interface (API), or monitoring API, can be used by a client system to open a connection to an API server that monitors a specified data store and listens for change messages from the API server over the connection. Whenever a data change occurs in the specified data store, the client system receives a message from the API server returning the change.

[0003] In one or more implementations, the continuous change notification API is a server-based application used to solve, for example, the cache invalidation problem; i.e., how to determine when cached or displayed information is no longer an adequate representation of the underlying data store. Any type of cache invalidation, not just front-end or back-end related, can be built using the monitoring API server. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Certain shortcomings of the prior art are overcome and additional advantages are provided herein through the provision of a computer program product for facilitating processing within a computing environment. According to one aspect of the present invention, a computer program product is provided comprising one or more computer-readable storage media and program instructions embodied therein. The program instructions are readable by a processing circuit to cause the processing circuit to execute a method comprising receiving, at a gateway interface of a computing environment, a monitoring request from a user system to monitor a data store for data changes. The method further comprises the gateway interface, based on receiving the monitoring request, invoking a serverless setup service to establish a connection between the gateway interface and the data store of the computing environment to be monitored for data changes. Additionally, the method comprises the gateway service invoking a serverless message processing service to mutate data change indications from the data store received at the gateway interface over the connection into mutated data change messages for return to the user system in accordance with the monitoring request, indicating data changes in the data store, and thereafter terminating.

[0005] Because the gateway interface invokes the serverless setup service upon receiving a monitoring request and the gateway interface invokes the serverless message processing service, there are no limitations on service execution time because they are short-lived serverless services. Each service is invoked when prompted by a respective event, and in one or more embodiments, once its function is completed, the serverless service is not maintained in an extended or active state. In this way, the cost for the serverless service is reduced from a full monitoring time window to a time window for completing the associated function when invoked by the occurrence of a respective event. Because there is no persistent connection with the gateway interface that must be maintained, the cost associated with the serverless service is significantly reduced. Furthermore, the method works with a wide variety of data stores already supported, so no changes to the data store are required.

[0006] In one or more embodiments, the connection between the gateway interface and the data store to be monitored for data changes has an unlimited execution time when established.

[0007] In one embodiment, the step of invoking the serverless setup service includes the gateway interface invoking the serverless setup service with user parameters associated with the monitoring request to establish the connection between the gateway interface and the data store to be monitored for data changes.

[0008] In one or more implementations, the method further includes the gateway interface monitoring the connection between the gateway interface and the data store for the data change indication from the data store. In one or more embodiments, the method further includes receiving, at the gateway interface, the data change indication from the data store over the connection, wherein the data change indication from the data store comprises a first data change indication format, and the mutated data change message for return to the user system in accordance with the monitoring request comprises a second data change indication format, the second data change indication format being different from the first data change indication format.

[0009] In one or more embodiments, the method further comprises facilitating maintaining another unlimited run-time connection between the gateway interface of the computing environment and the user system based on the monitoring request. In one embodiment, the method comprises the gateway interface returning the changed data change message to the user system over another unlimited run-time connection in accordance with the monitoring request.

[0010] In one embodiment, the serverless setup service is a first function as a service (FaaS) and the serverless message processing service is a second function as a service (FaaS).

[0011] A computer-implemented method and a computer system relating to one or more aspects are jointly described and claimed herein. Additionally, a service relating to one or more aspects may be jointly described and claimed herein.

[0012] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, at a gateway interface of a computing environment, a monitoring request from a user system to monitor a data store for data changes; based on receiving the monitoring request, the gateway interface invoking a serverless setup service to establish a connection between the gateway interface and the data store of the computing environment to be monitored for data changes; and the gateway interface invoking a serverless message processing service to transform data change indications from the data store received at the gateway interface over the connection into mutated data change messages indicating data changes in the data store for return to the user system in accordance with the monitoring request, and thereafter terminating.

[0013] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer system for facilitating processing within a computing environment, the computer system comprising: a memory; and at least one processor in communication with the memory, the computer system configured to execute a method comprising: receiving, at a gateway interface of the computing environment, a monitoring request from a user system to monitor a data store for data changes; the gateway interface, based on receiving the monitoring request, invoking a serverless setup service to establish a connection between the gateway interface and the data store of the computing environment to be monitored for data changes; and the gateway interface invoking a serverless message processing service to transform data change indications from the data store received at the gateway interface over the connection into mutated data change messages for return to the user system in accordance with the monitoring request, indicating data changes in the data store, and terminating thereafter.

[0014] Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques described herein. Other embodiments and aspects are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed aspects. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] One or more aspects are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed as examples in the claims at the end of this specification. The above, and other objects, features, and advantages of one or more aspects will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0016] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates an example of a computing environment for including and / or using one or more aspects of the present invention.

[0017] [Figure 2] 1 illustrates another embodiment of a computing environment for incorporating and / or using one or more aspects of the present invention.

[0018] [Figure 3A] 1 illustrates one embodiment of a serverless computing-based continuous gateway monitoring workflow in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention.

[0019] [Figure 3B] 1 is a data structure illustrating one embodiment of a serverless setup service / function workflow and a serverless message processing service / function workflow in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention.

[0020] [Figure 4] 1 illustrates another embodiment of a computing environment for incorporating and / or using one or more aspects of the present invention.

[0021] [Figure 5] 1 illustrates a more detailed embodiment of a computing environment for incorporating and using one or more aspects of the present invention.

[0022] [Figure 6A] 1 illustrates another embodiment of a serverless computing-based continuous gateway monitoring workflow in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention. [Figure 6B] 1 illustrates another embodiment of a serverless computing-based continuous gateway monitoring workflow in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention.

[0023] [Figure 7] 1 illustrates another example of a computing environment for including and / or using one or more aspects of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0024] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, further illustrate the present invention and, together with this detailed description of the invention, serve to explain aspects of the present invention. In this regard, it should be noted that descriptions of well-known systems, devices, processing techniques, etc. have been omitted so as not to obscure the invention in unnecessary detail. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and the specific examples, while indicating aspects of the present invention, are presented by way of illustration only and not limitation. Various substitutions, modifications, additions, and / or other configurations within the scope of the underlying inventive concept will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure. It should be further noted that, while numerous aspects or features of the present invention are disclosed herein, and, to the extent not inconsistent, each disclosed aspect or feature can be combined with any other disclosed aspect or feature as desired for a particular application of the disclosed concept.

[0025] It should also be noted that exemplary embodiments are described below by way of example only, and not by way of limitation, using particular code, designs, architectures, protocols, layouts, schematics, or tools. Furthermore, exemplary embodiments are described in particular instances using particular software, tools, or data processing environments, by way of example only, for clarity of explanation. The exemplary embodiments may be used in conjunction with other comparable or similarly purposed structures, systems, applications, or architectures. One or more aspects of the exemplary embodiments may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

[0026] As will be understood by those skilled in the art, program code referred to herein may include software and / or hardware. For example, program code in certain embodiments of the present invention may utilize a software-based implementation of the described functionality, while other embodiments may include fixed-function hardware. In certain embodiments, both types of program code are combined. In the exemplary computing environment 100 of FIG. 1 , examples of program code, also referred to as one or more programs, are illustrated in FIG. 1 as operating system 122 and monitoring request-related code 200 stored in persistent storage 113, as well as gateway 140, cloud orchestration module 141, set of virtual machines 143, and set of containers 144 that are part of or associated with public cloud 105. In another example, the program code illustrated in the computing environment of FIG. 7 includes, in part, application program 716, operating system 718, gateway interface 720, serverless service 721, data store 722, and computer-readable program instructions 723 stored in memory 706 of computer system 702.

[0027] For context, containerization is the packaging of software code (e.g., for implementing a service or microservice) along with its dependencies, such as operating system libraries and / or other dependencies used to run the software code, to create a single, lightweight, executable called a container. A container is portable in that it runs consistently and reliably on any information technology infrastructure. In one or more embodiments, the software code may be an application, such as an edge application or edge service instance in the case of edge-based computing. Containers are created from container images, which are static files containing executable program code that can run as isolated processes on computing or information technology (IT) infrastructure. A single image can be used to run one or more containers, which are runtime instances of the container image. Containers are lightweight (e.g., they share the machine's operating system), efficient, easy to manage, secure, and portable.

[0028] One example of a product used to provide and manage containers is Kubernetes®, an open-source system for automating the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. (Kubernetes® is a registered trademark of the Linux Foundation in at least one jurisdiction.) Kubernetes groups the containers that make up an application into logical units for easier management and discovery. In operation, Kubernetes orchestrates containerized applications to run on a cluster of hosts (or nodes) and automates the deployment and management of cloud-native applications using on-premises infrastructure or public cloud platforms. The Kubernetes system is designed to run containerized applications across a cluster of nodes (or servers or devices), which may reside in a single geographic location or be distributed across multiple geographic locations. In one or more implementations, a cluster is a set of nodes (whether physical or virtual computing resources) running a Kubernetes agent that is managed by the Kubernetes control plane.

[0029] Container orchestration is the automation of much of the operational effort required to run containerized workloads and services. Orchestration encompasses a wide range of processes required to maintain the lifecycle of containers, including provisioning, deployment, scaling (scaling up and down), networking, load balancing, and others. Note that Kubernetes is just one example of an orchestration platform that may be used to manage service deployments such as those disclosed herein. In one or more embodiments, other platforms, such as Docker™, may be used to manage service deployments in accordance with one or more aspects disclosed. (Docker™ is a trademark or registered trademark of Docker, Inc., San Francisco, California, USA.)

[0030] As described, a continuous change notification application program interface (API), or monitoring API, can be used to solve, for example, the cache invalidation problem; i.e., how to determine when displayed or cached information is no longer an adequate representation of the underlying data store. Any kind of cache invalidation, not just backend / frontend related, can be built using a monitoring API. With a monitoring API, a user system opens a connection to an API server that monitors a specified data store and listens over that connection for repeated messages from the data store server. Each time a change occurs on the data store, the user system receives a message about the change. The connection to the data store server remains active until the application terminates. Several examples of monitoring APIs are known, including examples implemented by couchDB and etcd.

[0031] Monitoring APIs are also widely used in mobile and web applications. A typical architecture or workflow involves a client application establishing a connection to an API server that is monitoring for resource changes. The API server is stateless and is not the source of the resources. The API server then monitors upstream data stores that may be the source of the resources. When the API server receives a message from a monitored data store, it processes the message, filtering, enriching, transforming, etc., and delivers the processed message to the client application.

[0032] Because the API server assists with client authentication and authorization, client applications typically do not directly monitor the upstream data store, and for security reasons it is usually desirable not to expose the data structures and schema of the underlying data store to client applications, or to expose data store credentials to client applications.

[0033] As an alternative embodiment, web-based applications can be built with serverless computing, which is efficient and cheaper than implementing an API server. However, a problem is that web applications cannot use long-term monitoring functions with serverless computing. For example, there are currently limitations on the execution time of such functions. For example, the maximum timeout for existing serverless computing services that execute code in response to events is 900 seconds, meaning that a single invocation of the platform cannot execute for longer than 900 seconds. Furthermore, serverless platform functions are relatively expensive because they are charged by execution time, including when the function is sleeping and / or blocking on input / output.

[0034] Before describing embodiments of the present invention, an example of a computing environment for including and / or using one or more aspects of the present invention is discussed below with reference to FIG.

[0035] Various aspects of the present disclosure are described through text, flowcharts, block diagrams of computer systems, and / or block diagrams of machine logic included in computer program product (CPP) embodiments. For any flowchart, depending on the technology involved, operations may be performed in an order different from that shown in a given flowchart. For example, again depending on the technology involved, two operations shown in successive flowchart blocks may be performed in reverse order, as a single integrated step, simultaneously, or in an at least partially overlapping manner.

[0036] A computer program product embodiment ("CPP embodiment" or "CPP") is a term used in this disclosure to describe any set of one or more storage media (also referred to as "media"), collectively contained in one or more storage devices, that collectively contain machine-readable code corresponding to instructions and / or data for performing the computer operations specified in a given CPP claim. A "storage device" is any tangible device that can hold and store instructions for use by a computer processor. The computer-readable storage medium may be, but is not limited to, an electronic storage medium, a magnetic storage medium, an optical storage medium, an electromagnetic storage medium, a semiconductor storage medium, a mechanical storage medium, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Some known types of storage devices that include these media include diskettes, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), static random access memory (SRAM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disk (DVD), memory stick, floppy disk, mechanically encoded device (such as pits / lands formed on a major surface of a punch card or disk), or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Computer-readable storage media, as the term is used in this disclosure, is not to be construed as storage in the form of a transitory signal per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide, light pulses passing through fiber optic cables, electrical signals transmitted through wires, and / or other transmission media. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, data is typically moved at some infrequent time during the normal operation of a storage device, such as during access, defragmentation, or garbage collection, but this does not make the storage device transient because the data is not transient while it is stored.

[0037] Computing environment 100 comprises an example of an environment for execution of at least a portion of computer code involved in performing the methodology of the present invention, including monitoring request related code 200. In addition to block 200, computing environment 100 includes, for example, computer 101, wide area network (WAN) 102, end user device (EUD) 103, remote server 104, public cloud 105, and private cloud 106. In this embodiment, computer 101 includes processor set 110 (including processing circuitry 120 and cache 121), communications fabric 111, volatile memory 112, persistent storage 113 (including operating system 122 and block 200, as identified above), peripheral device set 114 (including user interface (UI), device set 123, storage 124, and Internet of Things (IoT) sensor set 125), and network module 115. Remote server 104 includes remote database 130. The public cloud 105 includes a gateway 140, a cloud orchestration module 141, a set of host physical machines 142, a set of virtual machines 143, and a set of containers 144.

[0038] Computer 101 may take the form of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smartphone, a smartwatch or other wearable computer, a mainframe computer, a quantum computer, or any other form of computer or mobile device now known or later developed that is capable of executing programs, accessing a network, or querying a database, such as remote database 130. As is well understood in the field of computer technology, and depending on the technology, execution of a computer-implemented method may be distributed among multiple computers and / or multiple locations. However, in this description of computing environment 100, for purposes of brevity, the detailed discussion focuses on a single computer, specifically computer 101. Although computer 101 is not depicted in FIG. 1 within a cloud, it may be located within a cloud. However, computer 101 is not required to reside within a cloud except to any extent that may be expressly indicated.

[0039] Processor set 110 includes one or more computer processors of any type now known or to be developed in the future. Processing circuitry 120 may be distributed across multiple packages, e.g., multiple tailored integrated circuit chips. Processing circuitry 120 may implement multiple processor threads and / or multiple processor cores. Cache 121 is memory located within the processor chip package and is typically used for data or code that should be available for fast access by threads or cores executing on processor set 110. Cache memory is typically organized into multiple levels depending on relative proximity to the processing circuitry. Alternatively, some or all caches for a processor set may be located “off-chip.” In some computing environments, processor set 110 may be designed to operate with qubits and perform quantum computing.

[0040] Computer-readable program instructions are typically loaded onto computer 101 and cause processor set 110 of computer 101 to execute a series of operational steps, thereby enabling a computer-implemented method, such that the instructions so executed instantiate the methods specified in the computer-implemented method flowcharts and / or descriptions contained herein (collectively referred to as the "methods of the present invention"). These computer-readable program instructions are stored in various types of computer-readable storage media, such as cache 121 and other storage media discussed below. The program instructions and associated data are accessed by processor set 110 to control and direct the execution of the methods of the present invention. In computing environment 100, at least some of the instructions for executing the methods of the present invention may be stored in block 200 within persistent storage 113.

[0041] Communications fabric 111 is the signal-conducting pathway that allows various components of computer 101 to communicate with one another. Typically, this fabric is made up of switches and conductive pathways, such as switches and conductive pathways that make up buses, bridges, physical input / output ports, and the like. Other types of signal communication pathways may be used, such as fiber optic communication pathways and / or wireless communication pathways.

[0042] Volatile memory 112 may be any type of volatile memory now known or later developed. Examples include dynamic random access memory (RAM) or static RAM. Typically, volatile memory is characterized by random access, although this is not required unless expressly indicated. In computer 101, volatile memory 112 is located in a single package and is internal to computer 101; however, alternatively or additionally, volatile memory may be distributed across multiple packages and / or located external to computer 101.

[0043] Persistent storage 113 is any form of non-volatile storage for a computer, now known or later developed. The non-volatility of this storage means that stored data is maintained regardless of whether power is supplied to computer 101 and / or to persistent storage 113 directly. Persistent storage 113 can be read-only memory (ROM), but typically at least a portion of persistent storage allows data to be written, data to be deleted, and data to be rewritten. Some well-known forms of persistent storage include magnetic disks and solid-state storage devices. Operating system 122 can take several forms, including various known proprietary operating systems or open-source Portable Operating System Interface-type operating systems that employ a kernel. The code contained in block 126 typically includes at least some of the computer code involved in performing the methods of the present invention.

[0044] The peripheral device set 114 includes a set of peripheral devices of the computer 101. Data communication connections between the peripheral devices and other components of the computer 101 may be implemented in various ways, such as Bluetooth connections, Near-Field Communication (NFC) connections, connections made by cable (such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB)-type cable), insertion-type connections (e.g., a Secure Digital (SD) card), connections made through a local area communication network, and even connections made through a wide area network such as the Internet. In various embodiments, the UI device set 123 may include components such as a display screen, speakers, microphones, wearable devices (such as goggles and smartwatches), keyboards, mice, printers, touchpads, game controllers, and haptic devices. The storage 124 may be external storage, such as an external hard drive, or insertable storage, such as an SD card. The storage 124 may be persistent and / or volatile. In some embodiments, the storage 124 may take the form of a quantum computing storage device for storing data in the form of qubits. In embodiments where computer 101 is required to have a large amount of storage (e.g., where computer 101 stores and manages large databases locally), this storage may be provided by a peripheral storage device designed to store very large amounts of data, such as a storage area network (SAN) shared by multiple, geographically distributed computers. IoT sensor set 125 consists of sensors that can be used in Internet of Things applications. For example, one sensor may be a thermometer and another sensor may be a motion detector.

[0045] Network module 115 is a collection of computer software, hardware, and firmware that enables computer 101 to communicate with other computers over WAN 102. Network module 115 may include hardware such as a modem or Wi-Fi® signal transceiver, software for packetizing and / or depacketizing data for communication network transmission, and / or web browser software for communicating data over the Internet. In some embodiments, the network control and network forwarding functions of network module 115 are performed on the same physical hardware device. In other embodiments (e.g., embodiments utilizing Software-Defined Networking (SDN)), the control and forwarding functions of network module 115 are performed on physically separate devices, such that the control function manages multiple different network hardware devices. Computer-readable program instructions for implementing the methods of the present invention may be downloaded to computer 101 from an external computer or external storage device, typically through a network adapter card or network interface included in network module 115.

[0046] WAN 102 is any wide area network (e.g., the Internet) capable of communicating computer data over non-local distances using any technology for communicating computer data now known or later developed. In some embodiments, a WAN may be replaced and / or supplemented by a local area network (LAN) designed to communicate data between devices located in a local area, such as a Wi-Fi network. WANs and / or LANs typically include copper transmission cables, optical fiber transmissions, wireless transmissions, and computer hardware such as routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers, and edge servers.

[0047] End-user device (EUD) 103 is any computer system used and controlled by an end user (e.g., a customer of the enterprise operating computer 101) and may take any of the forms described above in connection with computer 101. EUD 103 typically receives useful and useful data from the operation of computer 101. For example, in the hypothetical case where computer 101 is designed to provide recommendations to the end user, the recommendations would typically be communicated from computer 101's network module 115 over WAN 102 to EUD 103. In this manner, EUD 103 can display or otherwise present the recommendations to the end user. In some embodiments, EUD 103 may be a client device, such as a thin client, a heavy client, a mainframe computer, a desktop computer, and the like.

[0048] Remote server 104 is any computer system that provides at least some data and / or functionality to computer 101. Remote server 104 may be controlled and used by the same entity that operates computer 101. Remote server 104 represents a machine that collects and stores useful and useful data for use by other computers, such as computer 101. For example, in the hypothetical case where computer 101 is designed and programmed to provide recommendations based on past data, this past data may be provided to computer 101 from remote database 130 of remote server 104.

[0049] A public cloud 105 is any computer system available for use by multiple entities that provides on-demand availability of computer system resources and / or other computer functionality, particularly data storage (cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by users. Cloud computing typically leverages resource sharing to achieve coherence and economies of scale. Direct active management of public cloud 105 computing resources is performed by computer hardware and / or software in cloud orchestration module 141. The computing resources provided by public cloud 105 are typically implemented by virtual computing environments running on various computers comprising host physical machine set 142, which is the universe of physical computers within and / or available in public cloud 105. Virtual computing environments (VCEs) typically take the form of virtual machines from virtual machine set 143 and / or containers from container set 144. It is understood that these VCEs can be stored as images and can be transferred among and between various physical machine hosts, either as images or after instantiation of the VCE. The cloud orchestration module 141 manages the transfer and storage of images, deploys new instantiations of the VCE, and manages active instantiations of VCE deployments. The gateway 140 is a collection of computer software, hardware, and firmware that enables the public cloud 105 to communicate over the WAN 102.

[0050] Some further discussion of virtualized computing environments (VCEs) is now provided. A VCE can be stored as an "image." A new, active instance of a VCE can be instantiated from the image. Two well-known types of VCEs are virtual machines and containers. A container is a VCE that uses operating system-level virtualization. This refers to a feature of an operating system in which the kernel allows the existence of multiple isolated user space instances, called containers. These isolated user space instances typically behave as actual computers from the perspective of programs running within them. A computer program running on a typical operating system can utilize all of the computer's resources, such as connected devices, files and folders, network shares, CPU power, and quantifiable hardware capabilities. However, a program running inside a container can only use the contents of the container and of the devices assigned to the container; this feature is known as containerization.

[0051] Private cloud 106 is similar to public cloud 105, except that its computing resources are available only for use by a single enterprise. While private cloud 106 is shown in communication with WAN 102, in other embodiments, the private cloud may be completely disconnected from the Internet and accessible only through a local / private network. A hybrid cloud is a composite of multiple clouds of different types (e.g., private, community, or public cloud types), often each implemented by a different vendor. While each of the multiple clouds remains a separate, discrete entity, the larger hybrid cloud architecture is bound together by standardized or proprietary technologies that enable orchestration, management, and / or data / application portability between the constituent clouds. In this embodiment, both public cloud 105 and private cloud 106 are part of a larger hybrid cloud.

[0052] As discussed, embodiments of the present invention include computer program products, computer-implemented methods, and computer systems in which program code executing on one or more processors performs serverless computing-based continuous gateway monitoring for data changes in a data store, one embodiment of which is shown (by way of example) in the implementation of computing environment 210 of FIG. 2. As illustrated, one or more user systems 220 (or client systems) having one or more applications 222 can open respective long-term connections 221 (i.e., unlimited runtime connections) to a gateway interface 230, which can be part of or associated with a gateway, such as gateway 140 in the embodiment of the computing environment of FIG. 1. In one or more implementations, gateway interface 230 is for monitoring one or more data stores 240 for data changes. By way of example, data stores 240 can be one or more databases, data storage systems, data sources, etc., that can experience data changes over time.

[0053] In one or more implementations, gateway interface 230 includes an agent for receiving monitoring requests from user system 220 and monitoring data store 240 for data changes. The requests may be received over open connection 221. Upon receiving the monitoring request, gateway interface 230 invokes 231 a serverless setup service 232, which in one embodiment is implemented as a Function as a Service (FaaS). The invocation is synchronized with the receipt of the monitoring request, with input, in one embodiment, being metadata about the user's original request, and output of serverless setup service 232 being metadata for facilitating the establishment of an upstream connection, i.e., in one example, establishing an open connection 233 between gateway interface 230 and data store 240. This connection 233 is a second long-term connection, i.e., a connection that has an unlimited execution time when established.

[0054] In addition to having an agent, e.g., a software agent, within gateway interface 230 for accepting or receiving monitoring requests from user systems, gateway interface 230 also has an agent, e.g., a software agent, for monitoring data store 240 for data changes. For example, in one or more implementations, gateway interface 230 may receive or capture a data change segment or other data change indication 241 and, in response to receiving the data change segment, invoke 235 or cause serverless message processing service 234 to execute. In one embodiment, invoking serverless message processing service 234 includes providing as input the data change segment or data change indication received from data store 240 via an open connection between gateway interface 230 and data store 240. In one embodiment, serverless message processing service 234 returns a changed data change message to gateway interface 230, which returns a changed data change message 237 to user system 220, such as user app 222, that initiated the monitoring request. Note that in one or more embodiments, serverless setup service / function 232 may be received from or identified by user system 220, for example, as serverless message processing service / function 234, both of which may be provided by the user system / application, for example, to ensure that connections opened between the gateway and the data store are in accordance with user requirements and that mutated data change messages returned to the user system / application are formatted as requested by the user application.

[0055] 3A illustrates a further embodiment of a serverless computing-based continuous gateway monitoring workflow in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention. In one or more implementations, the serverless setup service and the serverless message processing service may each be defined or provided as a function as a service (FaaS). In one embodiment, a user (or client) or other computing environment operator may define the service or function code to be used, including the serverless setup service / function and the serverless message processing service / function 300. In addition to establishing the serverless setup service and the serverless message processing service to be used, agents (including function prompts) are defined and / or implemented 310. For example, in one embodiment, the agents include a prompt agent for creating a connection between the gateway interface and the data store upon receiving a monitoring request, and a prompt agent for transforming (or modifying) data change instructions from the data store into a format desired by a user system or application. In this manner, a computing resource provider, such as a cloud-based provider, may execute or perform serverless setup service code and serverless messaging processing service code when prompted or invoked, respectively, from the gateway interface 320.

[0056] FIG. 3B illustrates further details of one embodiment of a serverless setup service / function workflow and a serverless message processing service / function workflow in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 3B, in one embodiment, the services to be invoked may each be implemented as Function as a Service (FaaS). The serverless setup service is synchronized with the receipt of inputs, and in particular, the receipt of monitoring requests at the gateway interface, along with metadata about the user's original request. The serverless setup service is configured to facilitate the establishment of an upstream connection between the gateway interface and the data store in question, and the output is a message confirming the establishment of the upstream connection. In one embodiment, the prompt condition may be the receipt of a monitoring request from the user system. The setup function may be a cold start function, and the timeout for terminating the serverless service may be set to a desired default timeout depending on the implementation.

[0057] In one or more embodiments, the serverless message processing service / function is a synchronized function; in one embodiment, the invocation of the function is synchronized with the receipt of a data change indication from the data store at the gateway interface. Input to the message processing service may include metadata used in establishing an upstream connection, and the service is implemented to process the data change indication in the data stream from the data store and return a changed data change message. In one embodiment, the prompt condition is a data change on the data store that is provided to the gateway interface. In one or more implementations, the message processing function is not cold-started, but rather pre-started to reduce delays that may occur, for example, when the function is first invoked or after a period of inactivity. The timeout for stopping or terminating the message processing function upon completion may be customized, for example, based on user input or requirements. Note that each service / function executes its specific process when the gateway interface is prompted by the occurrence of an associated event. When the two described services / functions are invoked, the computing resource provider for executing the service may either execute the service on a running server or, if no server is currently available, activate a new server to execute the respective function.

[0058] FIG. 4 illustrates another embodiment of a computing environment for incorporating and / or using one or more aspects of the present invention. In an implementation, computing environment 210′ ​​may be similar to computing environment 210 of FIG. 2 and / or computing environment 100 of FIG. 1. In the illustrated implementation, in addition to gateway interface 230, a gateway sidecar 400 is provided for interacting with Function as a Service (FaaS) code that provides the serverless computing-based features discussed herein. In one implementation, gateway interface 230 interfaces with users or client systems, such as users or client applications, and accepts data access requests, including monitoring requests. The gateway interface may maintain data store connections 233 to multiple data stores 240 with lifecycle management via gateway sidecar 400.

[0059] In one or more embodiments, gateway sidecar 400 interacts with Function as a Service (FaaS) code to provide the functionality disclosed herein. For example, gateway sidecar 400 serverlessly invokes setup services / functions to establish data store connection 233, i.e., the upstream connection between the gateway and data store 240, monitors for data changes in the data store, serverlessly invokes or spawns a message processing service to process the data change indication or feed and facilitates forwarding of appropriate changed data change messages from the gateway to user systems, after which the message processing service can be serverlessly stopped or terminated. In this way, the message processing service runs only when necessary.

[0060] FIG. 5 illustrates a more detailed embodiment of a computing environment 210″ for incorporating and using one or more aspects of the present invention. In one or more embodiments, aspects of the computing environment 210″ may be the same as or similar to one or more features of the computing environment 100, as well as one or more aspects of the computing environment 210 of FIG. 2 and the computing environment 210′ ​​of FIG. 4. As illustrated, multiple types of clients or users may access the Function as a Service (FaaS) / Serverless system, including one or more user interfaces (UIs) 500, one or more command line interfaces (CLIs) 501, and one or more user or client systems 220, via an API gateway interface 230. In the illustrated implementation, the interfaces provided for users are encapsulated as a representation state transfer (REST) ​​API 502 as a way to connect components in a service or microservices architecture.

[0061] Authentication and authorization may be managed by identity manager 505 with reference to one or more identity providers 506. Authentication and authorization may be facilitated by maintaining client or user-related information in secret data store 510 from secret data repository 511. The overall configuration within the system may be stored in configuration database 515. In one implementation, as a Function as a Service (FaaS), setup service ("Setup" FaaS) 232 and message processing service (Message Processing FaaS) 234 may be built as executables within Docker images stored in Docker registry 520. Supporting services include image manager 521, function manager 522, and API manager 512, as well as gateway sidecar 400, which facilitates invocation of respective setup service 232 and message processing service 234. When a data change occurs on data store 240, an event 530 is sent to event bus 532, which in one embodiment is driven by external event driver 534. A notification is then sent via gateway sidecar 400 to function manager 522, which may invoke or spawn message processing service ("Message Processing" FaaS) 234. The output of the service, i.e., the changed data change message, may then be sent via REST API 502 and gateway interface 230 to user system 220 that submitted the monitoring request.

[0062] Further details of one embodiment that facilitates processing within a computing environment in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention are described with reference to FIGS. 6A-6B.

[0063] 6A , in one embodiment, a gateway interface executing on one or more processors of a computing environment receives a monitoring request from a user system to monitor a data store for data changes 600. Based on receiving the monitoring request, the gateway interface invokes a serverless setup service to establish a connection between the gateway interface and the data store of the computing environment to be monitored for data changes 602. Further, the gateway interface invokes a serverless message processing service to transform data change indications from the data store received at the gateway interface over the connection into mutated data change messages indicating data changes in the data store for return to the user system in accordance with the monitoring request, and then terminates 604.

[0064] In one example, the connection between the gateway interface and the data store to be monitored for data changes has an unlimited execution time when established 606 .

[0065] In one embodiment, invoking the serverless setup service includes the gateway service invoking the serverless setup service with user parameters associated with the monitoring request to establish the connection between the gateway interface and the data store to be monitored for data changes 608.

[0066] 6B , in one embodiment, the method further comprises the gateway interface monitoring the connection between the gateway interface and the data store for the data change indication from the data store 610. In one example, the method further comprises receiving, at the gateway interface, the data change indication from the data store over the connection, wherein the data change indication from the data store comprises a first data change indication format and the mutated data change indication for return to the user system in accordance with the monitoring request comprises a second data change indication format, the second data change indication format being different from the first data change indication format 612.

[0067] In one embodiment, the method further comprises facilitating maintaining another unlimited run-time connection between the gateway interface of the computing environment and the user system based on the monitoring request 614. In one example, the method comprises the gateway interface returning the changed data change message to the user system over another unlimited run-time connection in accordance with the monitoring request 616.

[0068] In one embodiment, the serverless setup service is a first Function as a Service (FaaS) and the serverless message processing service is a second Function as a Service (FaaS) 618.

[0069] One embodiment of a computing environment for incorporating and using one or more aspects of the present invention is described with reference to Figure 7. By way of example, the computing environment may be of various architectures and types, including, but not limited to, personal computing, client-server, distributed, virtual, emulated, partitioned, non-partitioned, cloud-based, grid, time-sharing, cluster, peer-to-peer, mobile, having one node or multiple nodes, having one processor or multiple processors, and / or any other type of environment and / or configuration capable of storing data in selected ways as described herein and executing processes that retrieve and use that data to generate optimal task solutions for selected events, for example. Aspects of the present invention are not limited to a particular architecture or environment.

[0070] 7, in one example, a computing environment 700 includes, for example, a computer system 702, shown, for example, in the form of a general-purpose computing device. The computer system 702 may include, but is not limited to, one or more processors or processing units 704 (e.g., central processing units (CPUs) and / or dedicated processors, etc.), memory 706 (e.g., also known as system memory, main memory, main storage, central storage, or storage), and one or more input / output (I / O) interfaces 708, coupled together via one or more buses and / or other connections. For example, the processor 704 and memory 706 are coupled to the I / O interface 708 via one or more buses 710, and the processor 704 is coupled to each other via one or more buses 711.

[0071] Bus 711 may be, for example, a memory bus or cache coherence bus, and bus 710 may represent one or more of any of several types of bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example and not limitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), MicroChannel Architecture (MCA), Enhanced ISA (EISA), Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI).

[0072] For example, memory 706 may include a cache 112, such as a shared cache, which may be coupled to a local cache 714 of one or more processors 704, for example, via one or more buses 711. Additionally, memory 706 may include one or more programs or applications 716, at least one operating system 718, and optionally one or more of a gateway interface 720, a serverless service 721, and a data store 722, used in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention, as well as one or more computer-readable program instructions 723. The computer-readable program instructions 723 may be configured to perform the functions of an embodiment of an aspect of the present invention.

[0073] The computer system 702 may communicate with one or more external devices 730, such as, for example, a user terminal, a tape drive, a pointing device, a display, and one or more data storage devices 734, via the I / O interface 708. The data storage devices 734 may store one or more programs 736, one or more computer-readable program instructions 738, and / or data, etc. The computer-readable program instructions may be configured to perform the functions of embodiments of aspects of the present invention.

[0074] The computer system 702 may also communicate, for example via the I / O interface 708, with a network interface 732 that enables the computer system 702 to communicate with one or more networks, such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and / or a public network (e.g., the Internet), to provide communication with other computing devices or systems.

[0075] Computer system 702 may include and / or be coupled to removable / non-removable, volatile / non-volatile computer system storage media. For example, it may include and / or be coupled to non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media (commonly referred to as a "hard drive"), a magnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to removable, non-volatile magnetic disks (e.g., "floppy disks"), and / or an optical disk drive for reading from or writing to removable, non-volatile optical disks, such as CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, or other optical media. It should be understood that other hardware and / or software components may be used in conjunction with computer system 702. Examples include, but are not limited to, microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, data archive storage systems, and the like.

[0076] Computer system 702 can operate with numerous other general-purpose or special-purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and / or configurations that may be suitable for use with computer system 702 include, but are not limited to, personal computer (PC) systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, handheld or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set-top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframe computer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments, including any of the systems or devices described above and the like.

[0077] The computing environments described herein are merely examples of computing environments that may be used. Other environments may be used, including, but not limited to, non-partitioned, partitioned, cloud, distributed, non-distributed, virtual, and / or emulated environments; embodiments are not limited to any one environment. While various examples of computing environments are described herein, one or more aspects of the present invention may be used with many types of environments. The computing environments provided herein are merely examples.

[0078] In addition to the above, one or more aspects may be provided, offered, deployed, managed, serviced, etc. by a service provider offering to manage a customer environment. For example, a service provider may create, maintain, support, etc., computer code and / or computer infrastructure that implements one or more aspects for one or more customers. In return, the service provider may receive payments from customers, for example, under subscription and / or commission agreements. Additionally or alternatively, the service provider may receive payments from sales of advertising content to one or more third parties.

[0079] In one aspect, an application may be deployed to perform one or more embodiments. By way of example, deploying an application includes providing a computer infrastructure operable to perform one or more aspects of one or more embodiments.

[0080] As a further aspect, a computing infrastructure may be deployed that includes computer-readable code integrated into a computing system, where the code combined with the computing system is capable of performing one or more embodiments.

[0081] As a still further aspect, there may be provided a process for integrating a computing infrastructure comprising integrating computer-readable code into a computer system including a computer-readable medium, wherein the computer medium includes one or more embodiments, and the code combined with the computer system is capable of executing one or more embodiments.

[0082] While various embodiments have been described above, these are merely examples. For example, additional, fewer, and / or other features, constraints, tasks, and / or events may be considered. Many variations are possible.

[0083] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprise" (and any form of comprise, e.g., "comprises" and "comprising"), "have" (and any form of have, e.g., "has" and "having"), "include" (and any form of include, e.g., "includes" and "including"), and "contain" (and any form of contain, e.g., "contains" and "containing") are open-ended linking verbs. Consequently, a method or device that "comprises," "has," "includes," or "contains" one or more steps or elements possesses those one or more steps or elements, but is not limited to possessing only those one or more steps or elements. Similarly, a method step or device element that "comprises," "has," "includes," or "contains" one or more features possesses those one or more features, but is not limited to possessing only those features. Furthermore, a device or structure that is configured in a particular way is configured in at least that way, but may also be configured in ways not recited.

[0084] In the following claims, corresponding structure, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means-plus-function or step-plus-function elements are intended to include, where applicable, any structure, material, or act for performing a function in combination with other specifically claimed elements. The description of one or more embodiments has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the disclosed form. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The embodiments have been chosen and described to best explain various aspects and practical applications and to enable others skilled in the art to understand various embodiments with various modifications as suitable for the particular use contemplated.

Claims

1. 1. A computer program product for facilitating processing within a computing environment, comprising: One or more computer-readable storage media and program instructions embodied therein, the program instructions comprising: receiving, at a gateway interface of the computing environment, a monitoring request from a user system to monitor the data store for data changes; the gateway interface, upon receiving the monitoring request, invoking a serverless setup service to establish a connection between the gateway interface and the data store of the computing environment to be monitored for data changes; and the gateway interface invokes a serverless message processing service to transform data change indications from the data store received at the gateway interface over the connection into transformed data change messages indicating data changes in the data store for return to the user system in accordance with the monitoring request, and thereafter terminates.

10. A computer program product readable by a processing circuit to cause the processing circuit to perform a method having the steps of:

2. 10. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the connection between the gateway interface and the data store to be monitored for data changes has an unlimited execution time when established.

3. 3. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the step of invoking the serverless setup service comprises the step of the gateway interface invoking the serverless setup service with user parameters associated with the monitoring request to establish the connection between the gateway interface and the data store to be monitored for data changes.

4. 3. The computer program product of claim 2, further comprising: the gateway interface monitoring the connection between the gateway interface and the data store for the data change indication from the data store.

5. 5. The computer program product of claim 4, further comprising receiving, at the gateway interface, the data change indication from the data store over the connection, wherein the data change indication from the data store comprises a first data change indication format, and the mutated data change message for return to the user system in accordance with the monitoring request comprises a second data change indication format, the second data change indication format being different from the first data change indication format.

6. 3. The computer program product of claim 2, further comprising: facilitating maintaining another unlimited run-time connection between the gateway interface of the computing environment and the user system based on the monitoring request.

7. 7. The computer program product of claim 6, further comprising the steps of: the gateway interface returning the changed data change message to the user system over another unlimited run-time connection in accordance with the monitoring request.

8. 2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the serverless setup service is a first Function as a Service (FaaS) and the serverless message processing service is a second Function as a Service (FaaS).

9. receiving, at a gateway interface of the computing environment, a monitoring request from a user system to monitor the data store for data changes; Invoking a serverless setup service by the gateway interface based on receiving the monitoring request to establish a connection between the gateway interface and the data store of the computing environment to be monitored for data changes; and the gateway interface invoking a serverless message processing service to transform data change indications from the data store received at the gateway interface over the connection into transformed data change messages indicating data changes in the data store for return to the user system in accordance with the monitoring request, and thereafter terminating. A computer-implemented method comprising:

10. 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the connection between the gateway interface and the data store to be monitored for data changes has an unlimited execution time when established.

11. 11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the invoking the serverless setup service comprises the gateway interface invoking the serverless setup service with user parameters associated with the monitoring request to establish the connection between the gateway interface and the data store to be monitored for data changes.

12. the gateway interface monitoring the connection between the gateway interface and the data store for the data change indication from the data store; and receiving, at the gateway interface, the data change indication from the data store over the connection, wherein the data change indication from the data store comprises a first data change indication format, and the changed data change message for return to the user system in accordance with the monitoring request comprises a second data change indication format, the second data change indication format being different from the first data change indication format. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 further comprising:

13. facilitating maintaining another unlimited run-time connection between the gateway interface of the computing environment and the user system based on the monitoring request; and the gateway interface returning the changed data change message to the user system over another unlimited run-time connection in accordance with the monitoring request. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 further comprising:

14. 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the serverless setup service is a first Function as a Service (FaaS) and the serverless message processing service is a second Function as a Service (FaaS).

15. 1. A computer system for facilitating processing within a computing environment, comprising: memory; and at least one processor in communication with the memory; Equipped with receiving, at a gateway interface of the computing environment, a monitoring request from a user system to monitor a data store for data changes; the gateway interface, upon receiving the monitoring request, invoking a serverless setup service to establish a connection between the gateway interface and the data store of the computing environment to be monitored for data changes; and the gateway interface invokes a serverless message processing service to transform data change indications from the data store received at the gateway interface over the connection into transformed data change messages indicating data changes in the data store for return to the user system in accordance with the monitoring request, and thereafter terminates. configured to perform a method having , computer systems.

16. 16. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the connection between the gateway interface and the data store to be monitored for data changes has an unlimited execution time when established.

17. 17. The computer system of claim 16, wherein the step of invoking the serverless setup service comprises the step of the gateway interface invoking the serverless setup service with user parameters associated with the monitoring request to establish the connection between the gateway interface and the data store to be monitored for data changes.

18. the gateway interface monitoring the connection between the gateway interface and the data store for the data change indication from the data store; and receiving, at the gateway interface, the data change indication from the data store over the connection, wherein the data change indication from the data store comprises a first data change indication format, and the changed data change message for return to the user system in accordance with the monitoring request comprises a second data change indication format, the second data change indication format being different from the first data change indication format.

17. The computer system of claim 16, further comprising:

19. facilitating maintaining a separate unlimited run-time connection between the gateway interface of the computing environment and the user system based on the monitoring request; and the gateway interface returning the changed data change message to the user system over another unlimited run-time connection in accordance with the monitoring request; 17. The computer system of claim 16, further comprising:

20. 16. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the serverless setup service is a first Function as a Service (FaaS) and the serverless message processing service is a second Function as a Service (FaaS).

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