Fault Resilient Media Serving Array via Content Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing media serving arrays are prone to single-point failures, where the serving node can interrupt content delivery if it fails, leading to disruptions in services like video-on-demand, as all data must pass through this node, making it a critical failure point.
Innovation Solution
The system partitions content into ordered parts and allocates them across multiple nodes, ensuring seamless delivery by synchronizing nodes to send parts in-order over the network, allowing any node to take over if another fails, thus distributing the load and preventing service interruptions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If all data passes through a single serving node, then the system architecture is simple and easy to manage, but the serving node becomes a single point of failure that can interrupt content delivery
Solution Approach 1:
The content file is divided into multiple parts that are distributed across different nodes in the array. Each node stores and serves specific parts of the content, eliminating the single point of failure by distributing the content delivery function across multiple serving nodes rather than concentrating it in one node.
2Reliability
If content is partitioned and distributed across multiple nodes, then reliability improves and single-point failures are eliminated, but the system complexity increases due to synchronization requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs a feedback mechanism where nodes monitor each other's status and content delivery progress. When a node detects that another node has failed or is not delivering its assigned content parts, it can take over the failed node's responsibilities, ensuring continuous content delivery without requiring complex centralized synchronization control.
3Stability of the object's composition
If a single node serves the entire content file, then data consistency is maintained, but the system cannot tolerate node failures and requires higher redundancy for reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The content file is segmented into multiple parts that are distributed across different nodes. Each node serves specific parts, maintaining data consistency within its assigned segments while providing fault tolerance through distribution. This segmentation allows the system to tolerate node failures as long as the failed node's content parts are replicated or can be delivered by alternative nodes.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present invention provide methods, systems, and apparatuses for a fault resilient collaborative media serving array comprising a plurality of nodes. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a method for creating a fault resilient collaborative media serving array where the array nodes do not share memory, the serving of a content file is accomplished by the collaborative efforts of many nodes in the array, and where there is no fixed allocation of sessions to nodes.