Multi-tenant ERP Schema Update via Checksum Propagation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Multi-tenant ERP systems face inefficiencies and resource overloads when propagating schema changes to numerous tenants, particularly due to real-time updates, which can lead to synchronization failures and difficulties in managing offline tenants.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system that allows schema changes to be propagated from a master to multiple tenants, supporting offline tenants and applying changes at mount time, while distributing database server load and detecting and applying application metadata changes at runtime.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If real-time updates are used to propagate schema changes to all tenants, then synchronization is achieved, but database server load increases and resource overload occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by computing and storing checksums of schema metadata in advance. When schema changes occur, the system only needs to compare checksums rather than propagate full schema definitions to all tenants. This pre-computation reduces the workload during update propagation, resolving the contradiction between maintaining synchronization reliability and reducing server load.
2Reliability
If schema changes are propagated to all tenants simultaneously, then updates are applied consistently, but offline tenants cannot be updated and synchronization failures occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by implementing an on-demand schema update mechanism. Instead of forcing simultaneous updates to all tenants, the system dynamically determines which tenants need updates based on their online status and schema version. Tenants receive schema changes when they next connect to the system, allowing the system to adapt to varying tenant availability while maintaining eventual consistency.
3Loss of information
If full schema metadata is propagated to each tenant, then complete information is available, but network bandwidth and storage resources are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the extraction principle by isolating and propagating only the essential schema change information (checksums and change descriptors) rather than complete schema metadata. Each tenant maintains a local cache of schema information and only receives incremental update data when changes occur. This extracts the minimum necessary information for synchronization, reducing network bandwidth and storage requirements while maintaining information completeness.
Data Source
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Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system provides efficient maintenance and upgrade of tenant databases utilizing shared schema. A schema change is propagated from a master to tenants. Support is provided for tenants to be offline. The schema changes are applied at a mount time. Server load associated with the ERP database is distributed when tenant databases are updated with new schema changes. Changes to the application metadata (table schemas) is detected and applied to multiple tenants at a runtime.