Virtual Queue Manager for Ordered Message Delivery in Gateway Clusters
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Solution Overview
Problem
In gateway clusters, there is no guarantee that network messages will arrive at the server in the correct order when quota enforcement policies are in effect, leading to suboptimal performance and potential server overload during traffic bursts or denial-of-service attacks.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a virtual queue management system within the gateway cluster, where identifying parameters such as IP addresses and HTTP commands are used to create a virtual queue identifier, and the first gateway to process a message with this identifier becomes the virtual queue manager, ensuring that messages are transmitted in the proper temporal order across the cluster.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If quota enforcement policies are implemented in a gateway cluster, then server protection from traffic bursts and DOS attacks is improved, but network message delivery order cannot be guaranteed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the network traffic into different virtual queues based on identifying parameters (IP address, port number, HTTP command). Each virtual queue is independently managed by a designated gateway, allowing ordered delivery within each queue while maintaining overall server protection through quota enforcement across the cluster.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a virtual queue manager as an intermediary component that coordinates message delivery across multiple gateways. The virtual queue manager assigns sequence numbers to messages and ensures they are transmitted in the proper temporal order, mediating between the quota enforcement mechanism and the message delivery requirement.
2Productivity
If multiple gateways process network messages simultaneously, then cluster throughput is improved, but message ordering coordination becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the message processing workload across multiple gateways by creating separate virtual queues for different traffic types. Each gateway processes messages for its assigned virtual queues independently, maintaining high throughput while avoiding coordination complexity through clear separation of processing responsibilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the virtual queue manager monitors and tracks sequence numbers of messages transmitted by each gateway. This feedback loop ensures that messages are delivered in the correct temporal order while allowing multiple gateways to operate simultaneously, balancing throughput with ordering requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments provide a virtual queue management system within the cluster of gateways. When a network message arrives at the gateway cluster, it is processed by one of the gateways within the cluster. The gateway that is processing the network message obtains identifying parameters. The identifying parameters can include, but are not limited to, an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a port number, and/or an HTTP command. The gateway creates a virtual queue identifier based on the obtained identifying parameters. The first gateway to receive a network message with a given virtual queue identifier assumes the role of virtual queue manager for that virtual queue. The virtual queue manager gateway informs other gateways within the cluster of the proper sequence for sending network messages to the server such that messages are transmitted to the server in the proper temporal order.