Hierarchical Aggregator Appliances for Branch Office Load Balancing
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Solution Overview
Problem
In corporate networks with multiple branch offices, existing systems require manual configuration of branch office appliances to access resources across the network, leading to inefficient resource utilization and high configuration and maintenance costs due to the lack of global load balancing.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of aggregator appliances that establish connections with branch office appliances in a hierarchical manner, allowing them to access resources without needing information about other appliances, thereby reducing configuration complexity and enabling global load balancing across branch offices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If manual configuration is used to enable branch office appliances to access resources across the network, then resource accessibility is improved, but configuration complexity and maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
An aggregator appliance is introduced as an intermediary component that centralizes the management of resource information across the network. Branch office appliances no longer need to be manually configured with knowledge of other appliances; instead, they query the aggregator appliance which maintains and distributes this information dynamically, thereby reducing configuration complexity while preserving resource accessibility
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where the aggregator appliance continuously monitors and collects information about available resources and branch office appliances across the network. This feedback loop enables the aggregator to maintain an up-to-date registry of resources and automatically respond to access requests, eliminating the need for manual configuration updates and reducing maintenance overhead
2Adaptability or versatility
If manual configuration is performed for each branch office appliance to know other appliances, then resource sharing is enabled, but time and maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
Branch office appliances are equipped with the capability to autonomously query the aggregator appliance for resource information and automatically establish connections to available resources. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for administrators to manually configure each appliance, significantly reducing configuration time and enabling rapid resource sharing across the network
Solution Approach 2:
The aggregator appliance pre-collects and maintains information about all available resources and branch office appliances in the network before any access requests are made. This preliminary action ensures that when a branch office appliance needs to access a resource, the information is already available at the aggregator, enabling immediate connection establishment without time-consuming manual configuration
3Productivity
If resources are deployed across multiple branch offices, then resource utilization efficiency is improved, but configuration and maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The aggregator appliance serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a centralized registry for resource information, a load balancer that distributes requests across available resources, and a configuration management system that automatically updates all branch office appliances. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require multiple separate systems, reducing overall maintenance complexity and costs while enabling efficient resource utilization across the network
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems and methods are disclosed for providing a hierarchy of appliances to more efficiently access resources across a plurality of branch offices. A method comprises the steps of : establishing, by a first aggregator appliance (400A), connections with a first plurality of branch office appliances (200A,..., 200N); establishing, by a second aggregator appliance (400B), connections with a second plurality of branch office appliances (200A',..., 200N' ), the first plurality of branch office appliances not having information identifying the second plurality of branch office appliances; receiving, by the first aggregator appliance (400A), from a first branch office appliance (200A) a request from a client for access to a resource; identifying, by the first aggregator appliance (400A) via the second aggregator appliance (400B), a second branch office appliance (200A') from the second plurality of branch office appliances (200A',..., 200N' ) to service the request; transmitting, by the first aggregator appliance (400A), to the first branch office appliance (200A) information identifying the second branch office appliance (200A'); and establishing, by the first branch office appliance (200A), a connection with the second branch office appliance (200A'). Corresponding systems are also described.