Server Federation Data Synchronization Intermittent Bandwidth
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems fail to reliably synchronize data among a federation of servers with intermittent or low signal bandwidth, particularly in geographically dispersed and unreliable communication systems, such as military systems, where connectivity is often disrupted.
Innovation Solution
A method for synchronizing data among a federation of servers over intermittent or low bandwidth channels, involving connection status determination, catalog maintenance, identification of authoritative and backup servers, checksum tree management, and rate limiting to ensure seamless and automatic failover and quick recovery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If current systems assume high availability and high throughput node-to-node links for data synchronization, then data synchronization reliability is improved, but the system cannot operate with intermittent or low bandwidth connections
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adapts its synchronization behavior based on connection status. When connections are available, it performs full synchronization; when disconnected, it operates autonomously using local state. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by making the system flexible enough to handle both high availability and intermittent connectivity scenarios
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by maintaining local state and catalogs of data sets even before disconnection occurs. This allows the system to continue operating and making decisions about which data to synchronize when connectivity is restored, without requiring constant connection to authoritative sources
2Reliability
If the system continuously synchronizes data with all servers in the federation, then data accuracy is improved, but bandwidth consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the necessary synchronization actions by identifying specific erroneous data sets that need updating, rather than continuously synchronizing all data. It uses catalogs and checksums to determine precisely what data requires transmission, extracting only the essential updates needed to maintain accuracy while minimizing bandwidth usage
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback mechanisms including checksums and catalogs to monitor data state and determine when synchronization is actually needed. By continuously monitoring and comparing local state with authoritative sources, it receives feedback that allows it to defer or skip unnecessary synchronization operations, reducing bandwidth consumption while maintaining data accuracy
3Reliability
If the system performs comprehensive data verification and synchronization, then data integrity is improved, but recovery time after disconnection increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs partial verification actions by using checksums and catalogs to quickly identify only the specific data sets that require synchronization, rather than comprehensively verifying all data. This partial action approach maintains data integrity for critical data while significantly reducing the time required to recover after disconnection
4Measurement precision
If the system maintains detailed catalogs and state information for all data sets, then synchronization accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses simplified copies and representations of data state through catalogs and checksums rather than maintaining full copies of all data sets locally. These lightweight metadata structures provide sufficient information to make accurate synchronization decisions without the complexity of managing complete data replicas, achieving synchronization accuracy with reduced system complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A computerized-method of synchronizing data among a federation of servers interconnected over a network that has intermittent or low signal transmission bandwidth is provided. Each server in the federation of servers can receive update messages, determines connection status, maintain data catalogs and transmits updates such that nodes in the federation of servers are synchronized.