Central Service Control for Server Farms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Server farms lack a coordinated method to issue administrative commands to multiple independent servers, requiring ad hoc processes where administrators apply commands to each server individually, which is inefficient and lacks centralized control.
Innovation Solution
A central service control system that inserts control messages into a database, triggering their distribution to redundant services, which then transmit and manage commands to servers, ensuring consistent execution and status reporting across all nodes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If administrators manually apply commands to each server individually, then each server can be controlled, but the process is inefficient and lacks centralized control
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a database as an intermediary component between administrators and servers. Control messages are inserted into the database, which then triggers automated distribution to multiple servers through redundant services. This mediator enables centralized control without requiring administrators to manually interact with each server, thereby improving productivity while maintaining manageable system complexity through a standardized control flow.
Solution Approach 2:
The database serves multiple functions: storing control messages, triggering message distribution, and coordinating redundant services. This multi-functional approach consolidates control operations into a single universal platform, allowing one system to handle command distribution across multiple servers efficiently, thus improving productivity without proportionally increasing overall system complexity.
2Ease of operation
If a centralized control system is implemented to coordinate commands across multiple servers, then operational efficiency improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The database acts as a mediating layer that simplifies centralized control operations. Administrators interact with a single database interface to insert control messages, and the database's trigger mechanism automatically handles distribution to multiple servers through redundant services. This intermediary approach provides ease of operation by consolidating control points while managing architecture complexity through automated message routing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements self-service through automated trigger mechanisms that automatically distribute control messages when inserted into the database. The redundant services autonomously receive and process messages without requiring manual intervention for each server. This self-automating behavior enhances ease of operation while containing architecture complexity by using standardized automated protocols.
3Reliability
If redundant services are used to distribute control messages to multiple servers, then message delivery reliability improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements local quality by having each redundant service independently handle message distribution to specific servers. Each service maintains its own connection and acknowledgment protocol with servers, ensuring reliable local message delivery. This distributed local handling approach improves overall message delivery reliability while managing service architecture complexity by dividing responsibilities into independent, manageable service units.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs feedback mechanisms where servers send acknowledgments back to redundant services to confirm message receipt and execution status. This feedback loop ensures reliable message delivery by allowing the system to track and verify command execution across all servers. The feedback approach improves reliability while containing architecture complexity through standardized acknowledgment protocols.
Data Source
AI summary
Central service control may be provided. First, a control message from one of a plurality of framework applications may be inserted into a database. In response to the inserted control message, a trigger may be actuated in the database. In response to the trigger, the control message may be transmitted from the database and received by a plurality of redundant services. Next, from each of the plurality of redundant services in response to the received control message, the control message may be transmitted to each of a plurality of servers. From each of the plurality of servers, acknowledgements of receipt of the transmitted control message transmitted from each of the plurality of redundant services may be received. In addition, from each of the plurality of servers, status and results of an action requested by the received control message may be received.