Cloud Database Failover with Circuit Breaker Logic

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Global application availability in cloud computing environments faces issues such as slow loading times due to data center hops, inability to route traffic during regional failures, and security risks from unauthorized access to private application layers, which degrade customer experience and increase the risk of hacking and data breaches.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a public-facing alarm system that assesses private subnet metrics to securely monitor and reroute traffic to different zones or regions, using a cloud computing environment with replicated database instances across geographical zones for failover and improved read throughput, and employing DNS change propagation with circuit breaker logic to ensure zero-downtime operations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If data center hops are used to provide global application availability across multiple geographical regions, then customer access to applications is improved, but loading times increase and performance decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveglobal application availabilityVSAvoidloading time

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSSpeed

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements proactive failover mechanisms that prepare backup database instances in advance across different geographical regions. When a failure is detected in the primary database, traffic is automatically rerouted to pre-configured standby instances, eliminating the need for slow data center hops and maintaining fast loading times while ensuring global availability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If traffic rerouting is implemented to handle regional failures, then disaster recovery capability is improved, but DNS change propagation time increases causing connection issues

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedisaster recovery capabilityVSAvoidDNS change propagation time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system pre-configures multiple database instances across different regions with identical data and connectivity settings before failures occur. When a regional failure happens, traffic rerouting to backup instances happens immediately without waiting for DNS propagation, as the backup infrastructure is already in place and ready to accept connections

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary layer (such as a global load balancer or DNS caching mechanism) that can redirect traffic to backup database instances without requiring immediate DNS record updates. This intermediary absorbs the propagation delay by maintaining local routing information that can be switched instantly when failures occur

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Difficulty of detecting and measuring

If public TCP/HTTP endpoints are used to check database status in private subnets, then failure detection capability is improved, but security risks increase due to potential unauthorized access

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefailure detection capabilityVSAvoidsecurity risk

Core Design Contradiction:

Difficulty of detecting and measuringVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a trusted intermediary component (such as a security gateway or proxy server) that sits between the public monitoring endpoints and the private database subnets. This intermediary allows health check requests to pass through securely while blocking direct access attempts, enabling failure detection without exposing the database to hacking, money laundering, or data theft risks

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system segments the network architecture into distinct security zones with controlled access paths. Public-facing monitoring functions are separated from private database resources, with dedicated secure channels established for health checks. This segmentation allows failure detection capabilities while maintaining security boundaries that prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS11698843B2Automating the failover of a relational database in a cloud computing environment

Publication Date: 2023.07.11 CAPITAL ONE SERVICES LLC

AI summary

Described herein is a method, system, and non-transitory computer readable medium for helping customers in accessing data through an application from a replica database, detecting whether the replica database, zone of availability of the replica database, or geographical region encompassing the zone of availability is experiencing an outage or other failure, and re-routing traffic to a backup replica database accordingly. To assess the status of the database, metrics are pushed in a secure manner from a private subnet to a public-facing monitoring agent, achieving a clear segregation of private subnet and public facing components. Further, circuit-breaker logic is included for preventing failure during updating DNS addresses during the re-routing process.