Client Software Back Off Mechanism for Server Load Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Social messaging platforms face server overload during high-traffic events, leading to increased errors and reduced user experience due to the inability to effectively manage and distribute incoming requests.
Innovation Solution
User devices implement a back off mode by queuing subsequent requests to overloaded endpoints or domains after receiving an error, delaying and serially sending them once a determined back off time has elapsed, thereby reducing server load and error rates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If user devices send requests continuously to the platform during high-traffic events, then client application responsiveness is maintained, but server overload increases leading to more errors
Solution Approach 1:
The client application performs preliminary actions by detecting server overload conditions and proactively queuing requests before they are sent. When the platform returns an error indicating overload, the client immediately places subsequent requests in a back-off queue rather than sending them continuously, preventing further server strain while maintaining the ability to resume normal operation once the server recovers.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements periodic action by introducing deliberate delays between request transmissions. Requests in the back-off queue are sent at periodic intervals rather than continuously, allowing the server time to recover from overload. This periodic transmission pattern reduces server load while still eventually delivering necessary requests.
2Productivity
If the platform processes all incoming requests during high-traffic events, then service availability is maintained, but server load increases causing system instability
Solution Approach 1:
The client application applies partial action by sending only a subset of requests during overload conditions. Instead of blocking all requests or sending them all at once, it transmits requests in a controlled, throttled manner from the back-off queue, providing partial service availability while preventing server instability.
Solution Approach 2:
The back-off queue acts as an intermediary between the client and the overloaded platform. It buffers requests, managing the flow of data between the client application and the server, smoothing out traffic spikes, and preventing direct transmission of excessive requests that would cause system instability.
3Reliability
If user devices implement request queuing with back off delays, then server load is reduced, but request processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The back-off mechanism is dynamic rather than static. The delay duration and request transmission rate are adjusted based on server response to previous requests. When the server successfully processes requests, the client can increase the rate of sending queued requests, optimizing the balance between server protection and request completion time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from server responses to adjust request sending behavior. When the platform successfully processes requests or acknowledges recovery from overload, the client application increases the rate at which it sends requests from the back-off queue, reducing delays while maintaining server stability.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for limiting load on host servers that implement a social messaging platform. An example user device sends, to a platform comprising a plurality of host servers, a first request. The request is directed to a first endpoint. The user device receives, in response to the first request, a first error that indicates that the first request was not processed. The user device determines a back off time and places subsequent requests to the platform that are initiated before the back off time elapses and that are directed to the first endpoint in a back off queue in an order in which the subsequent requests are initiated. The user device sends, to the platform, the requests in the back off queue after the back off time has elapsed, until the back off queue is empty.