Transaction Identification in Network Environments
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Solution Overview
Problem
In complex network environments, identifying the source of transaction failures across geographically dispersed network devices is challenging due to increased complexity and disparate communication protocols, leading to resource-intensive troubleshooting processes.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for analyzing and reporting electronic transactions that include generating transaction reports with unique identifiers, allowing for aggregation and tracking of transactions across network devices, which enables identification of malfunctioning devices and network latencies without invasive hardware installation, and reduces storage needs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If network devices are geographically dispersed to expand enterprise network capacity, then network processing capability is improved, but network latency and troubleshooting difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by embedding a correlation identifier in the transaction request before it traverses the network. This identifier is预先 inserted into the request message, allowing all subsequent network devices to automatically associate their processing logs with the original transaction without requiring real-time coordination or additional tracking infrastructure during transaction execution.
Solution Approach 2:
The correlation identifier serves as an intermediary element that bridges the gap between geographically dispersed network devices. Instead of requiring direct communication or synchronization between distributed devices, the identifier acts as a common reference that enables the transaction module to correlate logs from different locations, effectively mediating the troubleshooting process.
2Device complexity
If traditional transaction tracking methods are used without unique identifiers, then implementation simplicity is maintained, but transaction failure identification becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the identification problem from the complex network troubleshooting process by isolating it into a specific mechanism: the correlation identifier. Instead of attempting to track entire transaction contexts across distributed systems, the solution extracts and tracks only the essential identifier, making the problem manageable without requiring complex distributed tracing infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The correlation identifier is copied from the transaction request through to the transaction report, creating a consistent reference thread. This copying mechanism ensures that the same identifier appears in the original request, intermediate processing logs, and final reports, enabling straightforward correlation without requiring complex pointer chasing or context propagation.
3Loss of information
If comprehensive transaction logs are stored for all network devices, then complete transaction tracking is achieved, but storage requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
By预先 inserting the correlation identifier into the transaction request, the system enables selective filtering of logs based on this identifier. This preliminary action allows the transaction module to efficiently retrieve only relevant logs for a specific transaction by searching for the identifier, rather than storing and processing complete detailed logs for all transactions across all devices.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a system for analyzing and reporting electronic transactions in a network environment includes an interface that may receive a transaction request at a first network device. A processor communicatively coupled to the interface may execute a task associated with the transaction request generate a transaction report associated with the transaction request and the task. The transaction report may include a request identifier, a request field comprising a task identifier and a uniform resource locator (URL) resource name, a time stamp field, a status code field, and a duration field. The interface may communicate the transaction report to a transaction module operable to aggregate the transaction report with one or more additional transaction reports associated with the transaction request using the unique identifier associated with the transaction request.