Event Server Failover via Backup Subscription State

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional systems for maintaining subscriptions to an event server face issues with resiliency, leading to loss of notifications and restart problems when the event server fails, causing subscribers to miss updates during re-establishment.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a backup event server that takes over subscriptions and notifications upon primary server failure, minimizing notification loss and ensuring continuous availability through failover mechanisms, allowing seamless transition and scalable event server operations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Device complexity

If a primary event server is used to handle subscriptions, then the system structure is simple, but the system reliability deteriorates when the server fails

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesystem structureVSAvoidsubscription continuity

Core Design Contradiction:

Device complexityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-configuring a backup event server before the primary server fails. The backup server is ready to immediately take over subscriptions when the primary server fails, eliminating the need for subscribers to re-establish connections and ensuring continuous notification delivery without interruption.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements beforehand cushioning by establishing a standby backup event server that cushions against the failure of the primary server. This pre-prepared backup capacity absorbs the impact of server failures, preventing subscription loss and notification interruptions without requiring complex real-time failover logic.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #11Beforehand cushioning (Prior cushioning)

2Reliability

If a backup event server is implemented for failover, then the system reliability improves, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesubscription continuityVSAvoidserver architecture

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies copying by creating a backup event server that replicates the subscription management functionality of the primary server. The backup server maintains copies of subscription data and can immediately serve notifications to subscribers when the primary server fails, achieving high reliability through a relatively simple replicated architecture.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

3Reliability

If the backup server handles all failover requests simultaneously, then the reliability improves, but the backup server becomes overwhelmed

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvenotification deliveryVSAvoidbackup server capacity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by having the backup event server pre-load subscription information before failover occurs. When the primary server fails, the backup server can immediately process notifications without requiring subscribers to re-establish connections, thereby distributing the processing load over time rather than concentrating it at the moment of failover.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

4Ease of repair

If subscribers re-establish subscriptions after server failure, then the system recovers, but notification loss occurs during re-establishment

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesystem recoveryVSAvoidnotification loss

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of repairVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies continuity of useful action by ensuring that the backup event server maintains continuous notification delivery to subscribers during and after the primary server failure. The backup server picks up where the primary server left off, delivering notifications without interruption and eliminating gaps in the notification stream that would occur during subscriber re-establishment.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #20Continuity of useful action

Data Source

PatentUS8046626B2System and method for maintaining resiliency of subscriptions to an event server

Publication Date: 2011.10.25 CISCO TECHNOLOGY INC

AI summary

A system and method for maintaining resiliency of subscriptions to an event server includes receiving a subscription request to establish a subscription to receive event state information of an event source, a primary event server providing the event state information. The event state information is received from the primary event server in accordance with the subscription request. The primary event server provides the event state information to an event consumer. It is determined whether the primary event server fails during the subscription.