Cell-Based Backup for Multi-Tenant System Failures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing distributed computing systems face challenges in quickly and cost-effectively recovering from hardware or software failures, as simple solutions are inefficient while complex solutions are costly and resource-intensive.
Innovation Solution
A multi-tenant computing system is implemented with geographically distributed hardware infrastructure, where each cell has a backup cell for redundancy, and network redirection is used to switch requests to the backup cell upon failure, with data replication ensuring minimal downtime and resource usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If a dedicated clone backup system is used, then service restoration speed is improved, but device complexity and resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the backup cell's infrastructure with the primary cell's infrastructure by having the backup cell share computational resources, storage, and network bandwidth with the cell it backs up. This consolidation eliminates the need for completely separate duplicate systems while maintaining fast failover capability through pre-configured backup relationships and data replication.
Solution Approach 2:
The backup cell is designed to serve multiple functions: it acts as a standby for its designated primary cell, maintains its own operational independence, and can potentially back up multiple cells. This multi-functionality reduces the need for dedicated single-purpose backup systems, thereby reducing overall system complexity and resource requirements.
2Reliability
If data is replicated to a dedicated backup system, then reliability is improved, but resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines storage resources by having the backup cell share storage infrastructure with the primary cell. Data is replicated to the backup cell's storage, which is part of the shared infrastructure rather than a completely separate system. This approach maintains data redundancy and reliability while avoiding the resource overhead of completely duplicate storage systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements data replication by copying data from the primary cell to the backup cell's shared storage infrastructure. This copying mechanism ensures data reliability and enables fast failover, while the use of shared resources means the copying operation does not require fully duplicate resource sets, thereby optimizing resource consumption.
3Loss of time
If a clone backup system is deployed, then recovery speed is improved, but the risk of backup failure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The backup cell is configured to be self-sufficient with its own operational infrastructure, including ability to handle requests independently. This self-service capability means the backup cell has been tested and proven operational in real-world conditions, reducing the risk that it will fail when needed. The cell maintains its own network connectivity, processing capability, and storage access without being entirely dependent on the primary cell's infrastructure.
Data Source
AI summary
A multi-tenant computing system provides services to a number of different tenant organizations. To address the problem of failure of portions of the system, the hardware infrastructure of the system is located at a number of different geographical locations. The various tenants are assigned to one of a set of “cells,” each cell corresponding to one of the geographical locations. Additionally, each cell has another one of the cells assigned to it as a backup cell, and the data of each cell is replicated within its assigned backup cell. At system run time, if a failure is detected within one of the cells, the network redirection is used within the multi-tenant system to reflect that the backup cell for the failing cell is now handling requests for the failing cell. Upon determination that the failing cell has been repaired and is now again correctly functioning, the network redirection is no longer employed, such that the (formerly) failing cell again handles its own requests.