Web Tokens Carrying Performance Metrics for Microservice Observability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Maintaining high service performance and user experience in complex web service infrastructures is challenging due to the difficulty in connecting the chain of events and cause and effect across disparate systems, especially with microservices operated by distinct organizations, leading to complicated troubleshooting of performance problems.
Innovation Solution
Enhanced web tokens are generated with performance metrics and authentication credentials, allowing them to be sent along the transaction path for processing, and extracted by processes to perform services based on these metrics, with network elements gaining visibility and control through JWT-derived information in packet headers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If microservices are operated by distinct organizations, then service independence and scalability are improved, but observability and troubleshooting difficulty worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces web tokens as an intermediary mechanism that carries performance metrics and tracing information between microservices operated by different organizations. These tokens act as mediators that enable observability across organizational boundaries without requiring direct integration or shared infrastructure between the services.
Solution Approach 2:
The web tokens serve multiple functions simultaneously: they carry authentication credentials, performance metrics, tracing information, and control attributes. This multi-functionality allows a single mechanism to address both service independence and cross-organization observability requirements.
2Measurement precision
If performance metrics are collected from multiple sources, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and data integration difficulty worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges performance metrics from multiple sources into a unified web token structure. By combining authentication credentials, performance data, and tracing information into a single token format, the system reduces data integration complexity while maintaining comprehensive measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The web token is segmented into distinct sections that organize different types of information (authentication credentials, performance metrics, tracing data, control attributes). This segmentation allows for structured data organization that simplifies processing while maintaining the precision of metrics from multiple sources.
3Loss of information
If web tokens include performance metrics, then observability is improved, but token size and processing overhead worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by including only the necessary performance metrics and essential information in the web tokens. Rather than transmitting all possible data, the system selectively includes only the metrics needed for observability and troubleshooting, reducing unnecessary data volume while maintaining information availability.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a service determines authentication credentials for a web application transaction. The service determines one or more performance metrics regarding the web application transaction. The service generates an enhanced web token comprising the one or more performance metrics regarding the web application transaction. The service sends the enhanced web token and the authentication credentials along a path of the web application transaction, the path including one or more services configured to use the one or more performance metrics sent in addition to the authentication credentials to process the web application transaction.