VLAN Server Redundancy and Failover for Seamless Mobility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional mechanisms for providing seamless connectivity in wireless networks face deficiencies, particularly in Mobility Domains where server failures or high server loads due to roaming mobile units lead to degraded performance and packet drops, especially affecting delay-sensitive applications like voice communication.
Innovation Solution
Implementing VLAN server redundancy and failover mechanisms, where Mobility Switches advertise server capabilities, elect and maintain current and alternative servers, and automatically switch to alternative servers when the current one becomes unavailable, ensuring seamless mobility and maintaining VLAN membership.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single server is used to serve VLANs in a Mobility Domain, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability deteriorates because server failure or high load causes connectivity loss and degraded performance
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-configuring multiple alternative servers and establishing failover relationships before any failure occurs. When a primary server becomes unavailable, the system can immediately switch to an alternative server without requiring complex real-time decision-making, thus maintaining reliability while keeping the failover mechanism relatively simple
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the server parameter from a single static server to multiple dynamic servers with different priorities. By introducing alternative servers and priority-based selection, the system improves reliability while managing complexity through standardized parameter configurations
2Device complexity
If a single server handles all VLAN traffic for roaming mobile units, then device complexity is reduced, but productivity deteriorates due to server overload and degraded performance for delay-sensitive applications
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the server functionality by introducing multiple alternative servers that can handle VLAN traffic. This distributes the processing load across multiple servers, preventing any single server from becoming overloaded and maintaining high productivity for delay-sensitive applications like voice
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements partial redundancy by having alternative servers stand by ready to take over. While not all servers are actively processing traffic simultaneously, the presence of pre-configured alternative servers ensures that capacity is available when needed, maintaining productivity without requiring excessive active servers at all times
3Reliability
If server failover mechanisms are implemented, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional servers and management overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service failover where the network infrastructure automatically detects server availability and switches to alternative servers without requiring manual intervention. This automation reduces the operational complexity of managing multiple servers while maintaining high reliability through automatic failover capabilities
Data Source
AI summary
A method, apparatus and computer program product for providing Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) server redundancy is presented. A mobility switch (MS) advertises to at least one peer mobility switch, VLANs configured as server capable, the advertising including providing priority information relating to a server for the VLAN. The MS receives advertising from the at least one peer mobility switch and elects a server for a mobility VLAN which is not mapped locally. The MS maintains a current server and a list of alternative servers for the VLAN and determines when the MS looses connection with the current server for the VLAN and moves the VLAN to an alternate server contained on the list.