Event Receiver Backlog Notification for Rate Limited Network Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Rate-limited network devices often experience message backlogs and overflows due to high event message generation rates, leading to dropped messages and delayed notification of critical events, which can degrade service availability and network performance.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that notifies an event receiver of a backlog condition, allowing it to increase the rate limit and divert messages to an overflow store, enabling retrieval after the overflow condition clears, thus preventing message loss and ensuring timely event notification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If rate limiting is imposed on network devices to control message flow, then network stability is improved, but message loss increases due to backlog overflow
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by notifying the event receiver of backlog conditions before the message buffer overflows. This early warning allows the receiver to increase the rate limit proactively, preventing message loss rather than reacting after overflow occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by monitoring the event queue backlog and notifying the event receiver when threshold conditions are met. This feedback loop enables dynamic adjustment of rate limits based on actual queue conditions, balancing network stability with message delivery reliability.
2Loss of information
If event queue capacity is increased to handle high message rates, then message loss is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies dynamics by making the rate limit adjustable rather than fixed. The event receiver can dynamically increase the rate limit in response to backlog conditions, allowing the system to adapt message handling capacity to actual needs without permanently increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The notification mechanism acts as an intermediary between the event queue and the rate limiting logic. Instead of directly increasing queue capacity, the system uses the notification as a mediator to trigger rate limit adjustments, simplifying the overall system architecture.
3Productivity
If rate limit is increased to handle message storms, then productivity is improved, but network overload may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses feedback by continuously monitoring event queue conditions and only increasing rate limits when backlog thresholds are exceeded. This prevents unnecessary rate limit increases that could cause network overload while ensuring productivity is enhanced only when actually needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the rate limit parameter dynamically based on queue conditions. Rather than maintaining a constantly high rate limit, the system adjusts this parameter only when backlog conditions indicate it is necessary, balancing productivity with network stability.
Data Source
AI summary
Event processing in rate limited network devices is described. An event receiver is notified of a backlog condition and may respond by increasing the rate limit for the network device. If an event queue on the network device overflows, event messages may be diverted to an event message overflow store or to a network location. Later, the messages may be retrieved after the overflow condition has cleared. As a result, critical messages or events such as Syslog messages are not lost when a rate limited network device cannot deliver the messages to a network management station.