Application Failure Recovery via Dynamic State Authentication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Computer applications often experience repeated crashes due to internal state errors, which are not resolved by simply restarting the application, as the underlying cause of the crash remains unaddressed.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that dynamically create and authenticate new internal state data for an application after an improper shut-down, allowing the application to restart with valid state data, thereby mitigating future crashes by modifying critical variables within defined valid ranges.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the application is restarted following a crash, then the application can continue execution, but the crash will repeat because the underlying cause is not addressed
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by creating new internal state data and authenticating it before restarting the application. The recovery manager intercepts the restart process, generates corrected state data, and validates it through authentication mechanisms before the application actually restarts, preventing the crash from recurring.
Solution Approach 2:
The recovery manager acts as an intermediary between the crashed application and the restart process. It captures the internal state, creates corrected state data, authenticates it, and then provides this validated state to the application during restart, mediating the correction of the underlying crash cause.
2Loss of information
If the application stores internal state data in persistent memory, then the application can recover its state after shutdown, but the corrupted state data causes repeated crashes
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the problematic internal state data from persistent memory and replaces it with newly created and authenticated state data. The recovery manager separates the corrupted state from the application restart process, creates a corrected version, and uses this extracted and validated state instead of the original corrupted data.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters of the internal state data by creating new state data with corrected values. The recovery manager modifies the internal state parameters to eliminate the crash cause, and the authentication mechanism validates these parameter changes before the application restarts with the corrected state.
3Reliability
If manual intervention is used to diagnose and correct crash causes, then the crash can be resolved, but significant time and resources are required
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service by automatically diagnosing and correcting crash causes without manual intervention. The recovery manager autonomously captures internal state, creates corrected state data, authenticates it, and restarts the application with the fixed state, enabling the system to service its own crashes independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback mechanisms by monitoring application crashes, analyzing the internal state, and automatically implementing corrections based on the analysis. The recovery manager creates a feedback loop where crash information is captured, processed, and used to generate corrected state data that prevents recurrence.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture to dynamically address and resolve an improper shut-down of an application. Internal state data of the application is stored in persistent memory. New internal state data is dynamically created and authenticated following an improper shut-down of the application. Responsive to the authentication, the application is re-started with the authenticated new internal state data, without being subject to an immediate improper shut-down.