Direct Server-Storage Communication via VXLAN Session Bypass
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing load balancer (LB) in cloud infrastructure networks acts as a network bottleneck and introduces delays and potential failures in communication between computer clusters and storage clusters, limiting bandwidth and reliability.
Innovation Solution
The system allows clients to directly communicate with selected frontend servers in the storage cluster by creating a session table and encapsulating packets, bypassing the load balancer after an initial packet is sent, using virtual extensible local area network (VXLAN) encapsulation to maintain session continuity without relying on the LB for subsequent packets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If all packets go through the load balancer for client-access storage cluster communication, then session management and server selection are simplified, but network bandwidth utilization is limited and the load balancer becomes a bottleneck
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the communication process into two phases: initial packet routing through the load balancer for session establishment, and subsequent direct client-to-frontend-server communication for data transfer. This segmentation allows the load balancer to handle only session management while bypassing it for actual data transmission, thereby resolving the contradiction between operational simplicity and bandwidth utilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The load balancer performs preliminary action by selecting a frontend server and establishing session mapping before the actual data transfer begins. The session table is pre-populated with client-LB-frontend server relationships, enabling subsequent packets to bypass the load balancer while maintaining proper routing. This preliminary session establishment resolves the contradiction by separating session management from data transmission.
2Device complexity
If the load balancer handles all packet forwarding, then network address translation and server selection are centralized, but communication delays and potential failures are introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the data transmission function from the load balancer after session establishment. Once the session table is populated with client-to-frontend-server mappings, subsequent packets are routed directly between clients and frontend servers, removing the load balancer from the critical data transmission path. This extraction reduces communication delays and eliminates the load balancer as a single point of failure, while maintaining centralized session management.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the load balancer performs network address translation and packet forwarding, then single virtual IP address management is achieved, but the load balancer bandwidth is less than total physical network bandwidth
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic routing approach where the packet path changes based on the packet sequence. Initial packets are routed through the load balancer for session establishment, while subsequent packets within the same session are routed directly from client to frontend server. This dynamic path selection allows the system to maintain virtual IP management flexibility while achieving maximum physical network bandwidth utilization for data transfer.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods provided herein are directed to allowing a client to access a storage cluster, and the storage cluster to access the client, without having to communicate through the load balancer after an initial communication, or an initial packet from the client to the storage cluster, for packets belonging to the same session as the initial packet based on information included in headers of the packet.