Non-disruptive Server Replacement via Session Data Image Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
In session-based environments, server replacement often disrupts service due to delays in propagating session information to replacement servers, leading to session termination and service interruptions, as conventional methods fail to preserve live session data during failover processes.
Innovation Solution
The method involves generating and transferring session data structures and network addresses from the original server to a replacement server, ensuring minimal downtime by maintaining active images of session data structures and coordinating the transfer of operations to prevent service disruption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If server replacement is performed using conventional methods, then the replacement process can be completed, but session termination and service interruption occur due to delays in propagating session information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates and maintains session data structure images in the replacement server before the actual server replacement occurs. This preliminary action ensures that when replacement is needed, the session information is already prepared and can be immediately activated, eliminating the delay that causes session termination in conventional methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates duplicate copies of session data structures (images) in the replacement server. These images are updated in real-time to mirror the original server's session data, allowing seamless switching without information loss. This copying mechanism resolves the contradiction by ensuring session information availability while enabling rapid replacement.
2Loss of time
If server replacement is performed quickly to minimize downtime, then service interruption is reduced, but session information may not be fully propagated to the replacement server
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of transferring session information during replacement, the system maintains continuous copies (images) of session data structures in the replacement server. This allows immediate activation of the replacement server with complete session information, achieving both rapid replacement and full information propagation simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains continuous updates of session data structure images from the original server to the replacement server throughout the replacement process. This continuous action ensures that session information is always synchronized, allowing the replacement server to take over immediately without information loss regardless of how quickly the replacement occurs.
3Reliability
If session data structures are propagated to the replacement server, then session continuity is maintained, but system complexity increases due to additional data management requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses image-based copying of session data structures, which simplifies data management compared to complex real-time synchronization protocols. The image mechanism provides a straightforward way to maintain session continuity while managing complexity through established imaging and snapshot techniques.
Data Source
AI summary
Non-disruptive server replacement for session-based clients. An embodiment of a method includes establishment of a session between a storage server and a client, with the storage server including a session data structure for the session, and transferring an operation of the storage server to a replacement storage server. Transferring the operation of the storage server includes generating an image the session data structure and placing the image in the replacement storage server, transferring operation of the session data structure in the storage server to the image of the session data structure in the replacement storage server, and transferring a network address of the storage server to the replacement storage server.