EP0723227A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Method and apparatus for maintaining network connections across a voluntary process switchover
Assignee: Tandem Computers Inc
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Filing: 1996-01-23
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2016-01-23
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for maintaining network connections across a voluntary takeover involving the use of dual processors in an protocol process node running a protocol process application as an intermediary to server and client applications. The protocol process node's primary processor checkpoints data to a backup processor. The data relates to the creation of a network connection between the server and client. Using the checkpointed data, the backup processor can assume the responsibilities of the primary processor in the event of a voluntary takeover of the primary processor.
Inventors
- 👤 Michael E. Fischer
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-28 15:35
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F11/00; G06F11/07; G06F11/16; G06F11/20; G06F11/202; G06F11/2041; G06F11/14; G06F11/1402; G06F11/1415; G06F11/142; H; H04; H04L; H04L69/00; H04L69/40; H04L9/00; H04L9/40; G06F11/2048; H04L67/00; H04L67/01; H04L69/30; H04L69/32; H04L69/322; H04L69/326
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
126 words
A method for maintaining network connections between a plurality of applications, the method comprising the steps, performed by one or more processors, of: communicating data between a first application and a primary node running a primary node protocol process application; said communicated data relating to establishing a network connection between the first application and the primary node protocol process application, said primary node connected to a backup node, and said primary and backup nodes each having independent processors; checkpointing said communicated data from said primary node to said backup node; employing, in the event of a switchover from said primary node to said backup node, said checkpointed data by said backup node to maintain said network connection between said first application and said protocol process application.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 1, wherein the switchover from said primary node to said backup node is a voluntary process switchover.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 2, wherein the voluntary process switchover is caused by human intervention.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method of claim 2, wherein the voluntary process switchover occurs automatically under control of an operating system due to a failure of the network connection.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
31 words
The method of one of the preceding claims, wherein the first application is a server application, further including a step of: transmitting data between the server application and a client application.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
81 words
The method of one of the preceding claims, wherein the step of communicating data includes a step of communicating data between the first application and the primary node, the data identifying a socket to be opened, further including a step of establishing an open control block in the primary node containing data for the opened socket, wherein the step of checkpointing the communicated data includes a step of checkpointing the open control block from the primary node to the backup node.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
54 words
The method of claim 6, wherein the switchover occurs after the open control block is checkpointed in the open control block checkpointing step, wherein the employing step includes a step of employing the open control block by the backup node to maintain the network connection between the first application and the protocol process application.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
76 words
The method of one of claims 1-5, wherein the step of communicating data includes a step of communicating data between the first application and the primary node to bind the first application to a socket, further including a step of establishing a network address for the bound socket in the primary node, wherein the step of checkpointing the communicated data includes a step of checkpointing the network address from the primary node to the backup node.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method of claim 8, wherein the switchover occurs after the network address is checkpointed in the network address checkpointing step, wherein the employing step includes a step of employing the network address by the backup node to maintain the network connection between the first application and the protocol process application.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
71 words
The method of claim 8 or 9, further including the steps of: communicating data between the first application and a primary node to bind the first application to a second socket, further including a step of establishing a second network address for the second bound socket, wherein the step of checkpointing the communicated data includes a step of checkpointing the second network address from the primary node to the backup node.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
20 words
The method of one of the preceding claims, wherein the employing step is transparent to human users of the system.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
140 words
A data processing system for transmitting data packets, comprising: at least one protocol process node, server node, and client node, said protocol process node comprising two independent nodes, a primary node and a backup node, each having its own processor and memory and communicating with one another; means, in said primary node, for communicating with said server and client nodes to send and receive data packets, wherein said server and client nodes communicate with one another via said primary node to form a network connection; means for checkpointing predetermined ones of the data packets from said primary node to said backup node; means for, in the event of a voluntary switchover from said primary node to said backup node, employing said communicated data by said backup node to maintain said network connection between said server nodes and said client nodes.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
68 words
The apparatus of claim 12,wherein the communicating means includes means for communicating data between the first application and the primary node, the data identifying a socket to be opened, further including means for establishing an open control block in the primary node containing data for the opened socket, wherein the checkpointing means includes means for checkpointing the open control block from the primary node to the backup node.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
64 words
The apparatus of claim 12,wherein the communicating means includes means for communicating data between the first application and the primary node to bind the first application to a socket, further including means for establishing a network address for the bound socket in the primary node, wherein the checkpointing means includes means for checkpointing the network address from the primary node to the backup node.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
96 words
A method for maintaining a network connection between a first and a second application of a plurality of applications, the method comprising the steps, performed by a data processing system, of: establishing a connection between the first application and a protocol process application; transmitting data packets between the first application and the second application via the protocol process application, each of the data packets having an identifying sequence number; and checkpointing the sequence numbers of transmitted data packets from a primary node of the protocol process application to a backup node of the protocol process application.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 15, wherein the checkpointing step further includes a step of: checkpointing, when the protocol process application is not idle, transmitted packets from the primary node to the backup node.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
74 words
The method of claim 15 or 16, further including the steps of: checkpointing, from the primary node to the backup node, socket binding data needed to establish the connection between the first application and the protocol process application; and employing, during a voluntary switchover from the primary node to the backup node, the socket binding data by the backup node to maintain the network connection between the first application and the primary protocol process.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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