Logging Reliability via Fallback Log Restoration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Remote third-party logging services can disrupt log entry recording due to network failures or service outages, leading to incomplete logs, as failover capabilities only write to a secondary location and do not ensure a comprehensive record.
Innovation Solution
A method that writes log entries to both a primary and a fallback log, with a restoration process to transfer entries from the fallback log to the primary log once it becomes operational, ensuring a seamless and comprehensive log record.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If log entries are written to a remote primary log during normal operation, then logging reliability is improved, but network failures or service outages can cause log entry loss
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a fallback log as a pre-prepared backup mechanism that activates when the primary log fails. This cushioning approach ensures that log entries are preserved locally during network failures or service outages, preventing data loss without requiring active intervention during the failure event.
Solution Approach 2:
The fallback log serves as an intermediary storage mechanism between the application and the primary log. During failures, it mediates the log writing process by accepting entries that would otherwise be lost, and later facilitates the transfer of these entries to the primary log when connectivity is restored.
2Reliability
If a fallback log is used during primary log failures, then log entry preservation is improved, but comprehensive logging is worsened because failover capabilities only write to a secondary location
Solution Approach 1:
The patent ensures continuous logging by implementing an automatic restoration process that transfers log entries from the fallback log to the primary log when connectivity is restored. This continuity mechanism eliminates gaps in the log record and ensures that all log entries are ultimately preserved in the primary log, maintaining comprehensive logging throughout the failure and recovery cycle.
Solution Approach 2:
The system temporarily stores log entries in the fallback log during failures (discarding the normal primary log path), then recovers these entries by transferring them to the primary log when connectivity is restored. This process ensures that no log entries are permanently lost and maintains the comprehensiveness of the log record.
3Loss of information
If log entries are written synchronously to the primary log, then logging completeness is improved, but system performance deteriorates due to network dependency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the logging process into two distinct paths: a fast local fallback log for failure scenarios and a remote primary log for normal operation. This segmentation allows the system to choose the appropriate logging path based on connectivity status, achieving both completeness and performance by avoiding unnecessary network calls when the primary log is unavailable.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by attempting to write to the primary log first, and only falls back to the local log if that fails. This preliminary attempt at synchronous writing maintains logging completeness when possible, while the fallback mechanism ensures performance is not permanently degraded by network dependency.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, computing device and computer program product are provided to maintain a comprehensive record of log entries, even in an instance in which the recordation of log entries to the primary log temporarily fails. In the context of a method, one or more log entries are written to a primary log. The method also includes determining that writing a log entry to the primary log has failed and writing the log entry to a fallback log in an instance in which writing the log entry to the primary log has failed. The method further includes performing a restoration process. The restoration process includes determining whether the log entry written to the fallback log is able to be written to the primary log. If so, the restoration process writes one or more log entries written to the fallback log to the primary log. If not, the restoration process is repeated.