Client Gateway Failover via Local Reachability Checks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems struggle to efficiently manage client-server connections when servers become non-operational, leading to interruptions in resource access and increased complexity and resource waste due to status update reporting and pinging.
Innovation Solution
A client is provided with a configuration profile that identifies backend services and specifies primary and alternate gateways for connection, allowing the client to monitor reachability and initiate failover processes without relying on the gateway for resource monitoring.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the gateway monitors server operational status through periodic pinging and status reporting, then the client can detect server unreachability, but the system complexity and network resource consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The client is empowered to perform self-service by autonomously monitoring server reachability through direct connection attempts and implementing its own failover logic. The client maintains a local configuration file with gateway and server information, independently detects when servers are unreachable, and automatically switches to alternate gateways without requiring gateway-mediated status reporting or periodic pinging mechanisms.
2Reliability
If the gateway and server exchange status updates through configured protocols, then server operational status can be tracked, but network resources are wasted on unnecessary communications
Solution Approach 1:
The status monitoring function is extracted from the gateway-server communication channel and relocated to the client. Instead of the gateway continuously pinging servers or servers reporting status updates, the client directly attempts to connect to servers through gateways to detect reachability. This eliminates unnecessary status update communications between gateway and server, consuming only the network resources required for actual client-server data transmission.
3Reliability
If the client re-authenticates with each gateway connection, then security is maintained, but user experience deteriorates due to repeated authentication prompts
Solution Approach 1:
Authentication is performed in advance when the client initially connects to the network through the primary gateway. The obtained authentication certificate is stored locally and reused for subsequent connections to alternate gateways during failover scenarios. This preliminary authentication action eliminates the need for repeated authentication prompts to users while maintaining security through certificate-based authentication.
4Reliability
If multiple gateways are configured for failover capability, then service continuity is improved, but the configuration and management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The client implements self-service by autonomously managing failover between multiple gateways using a simple local configuration file. The configuration file contains plain-text entries listing primary and alternate gateways with their connection parameters. The client independently attempts connections to alternate gateways in sequence when the primary gateway fails, without requiring complex centralized gateway management or coordination protocols.
Data Source
AI summary
Described embodiments provide system and methods for selecting a device via which a client is to connect with a server. A client may identify a server and a plurality of devices intermediary to the client and the server via one of which the client is authenticated to connect to access the server using a certificate. The client may detect that the server is unreachable from the client authenticated to use a first connection via a first device of the plurality of devices using the certificate. The client may select, responsive to detecting that the server is unreachable, a second device of the plurality of devices via which the client is to access the server. The client may authenticate, using the certificate used to authenticate with the first device, the client to establish a second connection with the second device to access the server.