Client Agent Bypassing Gateway Appliance for High Availability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Enterprises face challenges in providing seamless access to applications for remote users due to congested WAN links, heavily loaded servers, and low-bandwidth connections, leading to performance issues and user frustration, despite the use of appliances to accelerate application performance.
Innovation Solution
A client agent establishes multiple transport layer connections to gateway appliances, monitors their status, and automatically switches to an alternative route or directly to the server if the primary connection is unavailable, enabling continuous access and load-balancing decisions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an appliance gateway is used to accelerate application performance and provide controlled access, then application performance and security are improved, but system reliability deteriorates because the appliance itself may experience performance or operational issues that disrupt user access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple access paths (through gateway appliance and direct to server) into a unified system managed by the client agent. The client agent integrates gateway communication, direct server access, and automatic failover logic into a single coordinated mechanism, eliminating the need to choose between gateway-only or direct-only access.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically switches between static access paths based on real-time conditions. The client agent continuously monitors gateway availability and automatically adjusts the access route, transitioning from gateway-mediated access to direct server access when the gateway fails, and vice versa when the gateway recovers. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by making the system flexible rather than fixed.
2Productivity
If a gateway appliance is deployed to manage and accelerate application access, then application performance and controlled access are improved, but user experience deteriorates when the appliance experiences operational disruptions requiring user reconnection
Solution Approach 1:
The client agent performs preliminary actions by establishing backup connection paths and monitoring gateway health proactively before failures occur. The system prepares alternative routes in advance so that when gateway disruption occurs, the transition to direct server access is immediate and seamless, preventing user disconnection and maintaining continuous productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback loops where the client agent monitors gateway operational status and automatically adjusts access routing based on real-time conditions. When the gateway experiences operational issues, the feedback mechanism triggers automatic failover to direct server access without user awareness, and when the gateway recovers, the system can automatically route traffic back through the gateway for optimized performance.
3Reliability
If multiple transport layer connections to multiple gateways are established for high availability, then system reliability is improved, but device complexity and connection management overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The client agent implements self-service by automatically managing multiple gateway connections, monitoring their status, and performing failover operations without user intervention. The system autonomously handles connection establishment, health monitoring, route selection, and recovery actions, eliminating the need for complex manual configuration or user management of multiple connections while maintaining high availability.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods for redirecting, on a client, a communication of the client to a server to upon determining the server is not useable to communicate to the client include the steps of: establishing, by an client agent on a client, a transport layer connection between the client and an intermediary appliance, the intermediary appliance providing access to one or more servers; receiving, by the client agent from the intermediary appliance, address information identifying at least one of the one or more servers available to communicate; determining, by the client agent, the transport layer connection is unusable to communicate; establishing, by the client agent, a second transport layer connection between the client and one of the identified available servers to bypass the appliance. Corresponding systems are also described.