DNS Store Failover for Network Control Planes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current network devices face significant resource consumption and downtime when failing over or restarting due to the need to transmit millions of DNS queries to a DNS server, leading to prolonged processing times and disrupted traffic handling.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a network device with dual control plane components that maintain respective DNS stores, allowing for periodic backup and replication of DNS information between these components, reducing the need for frequent DNS server queries and enabling rapid failover or restart without interrupting traffic processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If DNS information is queried from a DNS server during control plane failover, then DNS resolution can be obtained, but significant resource consumption and prolonged processing time occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-populates the DNS store with DNS information before failover events occur. The control plane component proactively queries and caches DNS records in advance, so that during failover, the DNS information is already available in the DNS store, eliminating the need for time-consuming queries during the critical failover window.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates and maintains a copy of DNS information in the DNS store that can be rapidly transferred to the backup control plane component. This copying mechanism allows the backup component to immediately access DNS records without querying the DNS server, significantly reducing failover processing time.
2Reliability
If DNS information is queried from a DNS server during control plane failover, then DNS resolution can be obtained, but significant resource consumption occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs DNS queries and caches DNS information in advance during normal operation, before failover events occur. This preliminary action reduces the need for extensive DNS server communications during failover, thereby reducing resource consumption during critical failover operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent maintains local copies of DNS information in the DNS store that can be rapidly transferred between control plane components. This copying approach eliminates the need for resource-intensive DNS server queries during failover, significantly reducing energy and computational resource consumption.
3Reliability
If DNS information is transferred from DNS store to DNS memory during failover, then DNS resolution is restored, but traffic handling is interrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-populates the DNS store with DNS information before failover occurs. This preliminary preparation ensures that when failover happens, the DNS information is already cached and ready for immediate transfer to the backup control plane component, minimizing traffic interruption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a rapid copy mechanism that transfers DNS information from the DNS store to the backup control plane component's DNS memory. This efficient copying process minimizes the time window during which traffic handling is interrupted, maintaining higher productivity during failover events.
Data Source
AI summary
A network device may store domain name system (DNS) information in a DNS file in a first DNS store of a first control plane component included in the network device, the DNS information being associated with a plurality of DNS entries stored in a first DNS memory of the first control plane component; may transfer, based on storing the DNS information in the DNS file in the first DNS store, a copy of the DNS file from the first DNS store to a second DNS store of a second control plane component included in the network device, the copy of the DNS file including the DNS information associated with the plurality of DNS entries; and may transfer, based on detecting an event associated with the first control plane component, the DNS information from the copy of the DNS file to a second DNS memory of the second control plane component.