Adaptive Heartbeat Protocol for Cluster Node Failure Detection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional heartbeat mechanisms in network controller clusters require manual configuration of retry counts and intervals, leading to inefficient failure detection and increased false positives due to temporary network congestion, and become cumbersome with the addition of nodes, as each pair of nodes needs independent configuration.
Innovation Solution
A dynamic and adaptive approach using Round Trip Delay (RTD) measurements to adjust heartbeat message transmission intervals, allowing for asymmetric and frequency-adaptive heartbeat protocols that reduce false positives and accommodate varying node loads, without relying on clock synchronization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a node is pre-configured with a high retry count and low retry intervals for heartbeat messages, then the node can detect peer node failure fast, but the node will transmit too many messages and may lead to false positive results
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic adjustment of heartbeat message transmission intervals based on RTD measurements. Instead of using fixed pre-configured retry intervals, the system continuously monitors round-trip delay and adapts the heartbeat interval accordingly, allowing fast failure detection when RTD is low while avoiding excessive transmissions when RTD is high, thus resolving the contradiction between detection speed and false positive rate
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses RTD measurements as feedback to dynamically control heartbeat message transmission. By measuring the round-trip delay and using it to adjust the heartbeat interval, the system creates a closed-loop control mechanism that adapts to changing network conditions, preventing both premature failure detection and unnecessary message transmissions
2Adaptability or versatility
If the number of configuration parameters increases linearly with the addition of every node in the cluster, then each pair of nodes can be configured independently for optimal performance, but the configuration becomes quite tedious
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables nodes to automatically determine their own heartbeat transmission parameters by measuring RTD to peer nodes. Each node independently calculates appropriate heartbeat intervals based on its own measurements without requiring manual configuration or administrator intervention, thus achieving node-specific optimization while eliminating configuration complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically adjusts heartbeat transmission parameters (intervals and retry counts) based on measured RTD values. Instead of requiring manual configuration of these parameters, the system dynamically changes them based on actual network conditions observed by each node, achieving adaptability without increasing operational complexity
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure discloses a method and a network device for failure detection of nodes in a cluster. Specifically, a network device transmits data to another device at a first time. The network device then receives an acknowledgment of the data from the second device at a second time. Next, the network device determines a Round Trip Time (RTT) for the first device and the second device based on the first time and the second time. Based on the RTT, the network device determines a first frequency for transmitting a heartbeat protocol message between the first device and the second device, and transmits a heartbeat protocol message between the first device and the second device at the first frequency.