Swimlane-Based Cloud Software Release Coordination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems face challenges in managing software version updates across multiple environments and platforms without downtime, especially when multiple version changes are required simultaneously, and in ensuring zero-downtime deployments and upgrades across environments from development to production.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of 'swimlane' constructs and smart pipelines allows for the management of software releases by associating software components with swimlane identifiers, enabling zero-downtime deployments and upgrades across multiple environments, and creating a sandbox for testing purposes, allowing for the coexistence of multiple software versions and their dependencies in the same environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If software components are updated in production environment, then software version is improved, but service downtime occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by deploying new software versions to sandbox environments and staging areas before production. The multi-environment pipeline (development → QA → staging → production) allows incremental preparation and testing of updates in advance, so that when production deployment occurs, the new version is already validated and ready, minimizing actual downtime.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary environments (sandbox, QA, staging) between development and production. These intermediate layers act as buffers that allow software to be tested and validated before reaching production, enabling smoother transitions and reducing the risk of downtime-causing errors in the final deployment.
2Productivity
If multiple software versions are deployed simultaneously across environments, then release speed is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the deployment process into distinct environments (development, QA, staging, production) and independent software components. Each environment can be updated independently through automated pipelines, allowing parallel deployment across multiple segments without requiring coordination of the entire system at once, thus managing complexity while maintaining speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The deployment system is designed to be dynamic, allowing flexible configuration of which components are deployed to which environments at any given time. The pipeline can adapt to different deployment scenarios, enabling simultaneous multi-version deployments when needed while automatically managing the complexity through automated routing and version control.
3Measurement precision
If software is tested in production environment, then testing accuracy is improved, but production stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by creating sandbox environments that replicate production conditions for specific testing purposes. These localized sandboxes allow realistic testing without affecting the stability of the actual production environment. The same software can be tested in isolation in sandboxes while production remains stable and operational.
Data Source
AI summary
A system is disclosed for coordinating multiple software component deployments, upgrades, or migrations simultaneously or individually across a multiple-location/cloud platform. The system includes an application gateway router that routes incoming API requests based on an identifier in headers of the request that is associated with a swimlane construct, the swimlane containing multiple software components. By associating a swimlane's possible destinations with a timestamp or time range indicating when they are in effect, all of the components in the swimlane can be simultaneously upgraded or migrated by changing the API endpoint to which requests will be forwarded, with zero downtime. This solution is technology-, platform-, and cloud-agnostic and can be extended and applied to any organization using software. Application owners are empowered to run their application in any combination of cloud-provider, region, environment, business channel, and app, with possible sandbox instances in any lower environment for any combination.