Load Balancer Invalidation Notification for Node Failure

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing load balancing protocols do not ensure message exchanging correctness when an interaction node becomes invalid, as they fail to account for abnormal cases such as an invalid interaction node, which can lead to unreliable data transmission.

Innovation Solution

A method and apparatus for load balancing that involves detecting and broadcasting invalidation notifications to load balancers, which then delete recorded information about invalid interaction nodes or sessions, ensuring that subsequent requests are not routed to these nodes by using empty or default destination data in the load balancing protocol, thereby reassigned to functional nodes.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a general load balancing protocol is used to provide basic interaction scenarios, then load balancing functionality is achieved, but message exchanging correctness cannot be ensured when interaction nodes become invalid

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemessage exchanging correctnessVSAvoidload balancing protocol complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by having the load balancer proactively detect when an interaction node becomes invalid and broadcast an invalidation notification to all source side interaction nodes before any incorrect message routing can occur. This advance detection and notification mechanism prevents the reliability issue by ensuring source nodes are aware of invalid nodes beforehand, so they can adjust their routing decisions accordingly.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements feedback by establishing a communication loop where the load balancer monitors the status of interaction nodes, detects invalidity, and sends invalidation notifications back to source nodes. This feedback mechanism enables the system to adapt to changing node states dynamically, ensuring that message routing information remains current and accurate, thus maintaining message exchanging correctness even as node validity changes over time.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Reliability

If session persistence is maintained to ensure uniqueness of distribution destinations, then correlated access requests are dispatched to one server, but the system cannot adapt when that server becomes invalid

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesession persistence reliabilityVSAvoidadaptation to node invalidity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies dynamics by making the session persistence mechanism adaptive rather than static. When a target node is detected as invalid, the load balancer dynamically updates the session persistence mapping by broadcasting invalidation notifications to source nodes. This causes source nodes to update their recorded target node information, allowing the system to maintain session persistence for valid nodes while automatically adapting to node invalidity by redirecting subsequent requests from invalid nodes to alternative valid nodes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP3481099B1Load balancing method and associated device
Publication Date: 2021.10.06 HUAWEI TECH CO LTD
  • EP3481099B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3481099B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3481099B1 patent drawingFigure 3A

AI summary

A load balancing method is provided: A load balancer obtains an invalidation notification, where the invalidation notification includes an identifier of an invalid object on a target side, and the invalid object includes an invalid interaction node, an invalid session group on an interaction node, or an invalid session in a session group; the load balancer broadcasts the invalidation notification, where the invalidation notification is used to instruct an interaction node on a source side to delete recorded information about a load balancing protocol of the invalid object; and the load balancer reassigns an interaction node to an application interaction request when the load balancer receives the application interaction request sent by the interaction node on the source side and destination data in the application interaction request is empty. In this way, reliability of message exchanging is ensured when an interaction node is abnormal.