Database Audit Record Batching via RPC
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Solution Overview
Problem
Managing and auditing database activity across multiple instance hosts in large-scale database services is complex, requiring efficient monitoring and aggregation of audit records while ensuring security and performance.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an activity monitor plugin in each database engine to monitor and aggregate audit records into batches, which are then sent via remote procedure calls to a security host manager for storage and processing, utilizing shared memory for efficient data handling and batch processing to improve performance and security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If audit records are monitored and aggregated across multiple database instance hosts, then auditing effectiveness is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the auditing system into distinct components: activity monitor plugins deployed on individual database instance hosts that independently collect and aggregate audit records, then forward them to a central security host manager. This segmentation allows each component to operate autonomously while contributing to the overall auditing effectiveness, managing complexity through modular architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces activity monitor plugins as intermediary components between the database engines and the security host manager. These plugins act as mediators that collect audit records from multiple database instances, aggregate them locally, and forward consolidated batches to the central manager, thereby simplifying the communication architecture while maintaining comprehensive auditing coverage.
2Speed
If audit records are sent individually to the security host manager, then real-time monitoring is improved, but processing performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual audit record transmissions into consolidated batches at the activity monitor plugin level. By accumulating audit records from multiple database instances and time periods into single batch transmissions, the system reduces the total number of communication events and processing operations at the security host manager, thereby improving overall processing performance while maintaining timely audit capture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements periodic batch transmission of audit records rather than continuous individual transmissions. The activity monitor plugins periodically aggregate and forward batches of audit records to the security host manager, creating a rhythm of periodic data transfer that balances real-time monitoring requirements with processing performance optimization.
3Loss of information
If more audit records are collected and stored, then auditing completeness is improved, but storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments audit record storage and processing across distributed activity monitor plugins on multiple database instance hosts rather than centralizing all audit records at the security host manager. Each plugin maintains local audit records and aggregates them in batches, distributing the storage burden across the system while ensuring comprehensive audit capture through local retention policies.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for aggregating and emitting database activity record batches are described. Database activity records can be written to a shared memory queue and emitted to a destination using a remote procedure call (RPC). Individual database connection server processes can write client activity records to the queue. An activity monitor plugin in the database engine can monitor the audit records and aggregate the audit records into batches. Batches of audit records can be sent via RPC to their final or intermediate destination. Each instance host in a database service can include a client backend process configured to define how to submit audit records to shared memory. The activity monitor plugin can batch audit records in to messages and submit those messages via RPC to a security host manager and relaying response back to each relevant client backend.