Group Roster-Based Authentication for Scalable Cluster Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional certificate-based authentication systems face challenges in scalability and management, particularly when adding or removing systems from a cluster, as each system must be manually configured and updated, making it tedious and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A roster-based mechanism is employed where each entity in a group maintains a copy of the group roster, which includes membership information and cryptographic data, allowing for automatic updates and changes in group membership without individual reconfiguration, enabling merging or splitting of groups.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional certificate-based authentication systems are used with manual configuration for each system pair, then secure communication between individual systems is achieved, but scalability deteriorates as adding or removing systems requires manual updates to every other system's configuration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the authentication configuration into individual system certificates and a centralized group roster. Each system maintains its own certificate while referencing a shared group roster that contains certificates of all group members. This segmentation eliminates the need for pairwise manual configuration while maintaining secure communication, allowing systems to join or leave the group without reconfiguring existing members.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a group roster as an intermediary component that mediates authentication between systems. Instead of direct pairwise configuration, the group roster serves as a central repository containing cryptographic information for all group members. Systems authenticate by referencing this intermediary roster, enabling scalable addition or removal of systems without manual updates to each individual system.
2Reliability
If manual configuration is performed for each system pair, then individual secure communication channels are established, but management complexity increases when updating group membership
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the authentication configuration management from individual system pairs and consolidates it into a centralized group roster. The group roster contains all necessary cryptographic information (certificates, keys) for group members, which is distributed to each system. This extraction eliminates the complexity of managing individual pairwise configurations while maintaining secure communication channels through the shared roster.
Solution Approach 2:
The group roster serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a certificate repository, an authentication authority, and a membership management database. By making the roster universal and shared across all group members, the system eliminates the need for separate configuration management for each system pair, reducing overall management complexity while maintaining secure communication.
3Reliability
If individual reconfiguration is required for each entity when group membership changes, then precise control over each system's authentication is achieved, but time consumption increases significantly during group updates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-generating and distributing the group roster containing all necessary cryptographic information to group members before actual communication occurs. When membership changes, the updated roster is distributed to affected systems in advance, allowing them to prepare for the transition. This preliminary distribution of authentication credentials significantly reduces the time required for group updates compared to real-time pairwise reconfiguration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by creating and distributing copies of the group roster to each system member. Instead of modifying each system's configuration individually, the entire group roster is copied and distributed to relevant systems. This copying approach maintains precise authentication control through the roster's cryptographic information while dramatically reducing update time by parallelizing the distribution process across all members simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
Exemplary embodiments provide various techniques for managing groups of authenticated entities. In one exemplary computer-implemented method, an entity accesses a group roster that includes a first group identifier identifying a first group, a first group digital certificate associated with the first group, and a first entity identifier identifying the entity being a member of the first group. The entity also receives a request to update the group roster. Here, the request includes a second group identifier identifying a second group and a second group digital certificate associated with the second group. In response to the request, the entity replaces the first group identifier in the group roster with the second group identifier. Additionally, in response to the request, the entity replaces the first group digital certificate with the second group digital certificate. The replacements change a membership of the entity from the first group to the second group.