US6185601B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Dynamic load balancing of a network of client and server computers
Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
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Filing: 1998-04-15
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Granted: 2001-02-06
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Expires: 2018-04-15
Abstract
Abstract Methods for load rebalancing by clients in a network are disclosed. Client load rebalancing allows the clients to optimize throughput between themselves and the resources accessed by the nodes. A network, which implements this embodiment of the invention, can dynamically rebalance itself to optimize throughput by migrating client I/O requests from over utilized pathways to under utilized pathways. Client load rebalancing allows a client to re-map a path through a plurality of nodes to a resource. The re-mapping may take place in response to a redirection command from an overloaded node.
Inventors
- 👤 James J. Wolff
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 23:00
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/10
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
192 words
A method for load-balancing a network, the network comprising a number of sever computers that serve I/O requests directed by a number of client computers to resources via the server computers, each server computer receiving I/O requests from client computers, the resources initially served by at least two server computers, each resource associated with an administrative server computer that carries out an administrative portion of each I/O request directed to the resource, the method comprising: receiving at a first server computer an I/O request directed to a resource; carrying out the I/O request by the first server computer and, when the first server computer is not an administrative server computer for the resource, by an administrative computer assigned to the resource; determining by the first server computer that the first server computer has exceeded a utilization threshold by detecting at the client computer a delay in carrying out, by the first server computer, the I/O request directed to the resource; and re-directing by the first server computer subsequent I/O requests directed to the resource by at lest one client computer to an alternate server computer that serves I/O requests for the resource.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
192 words
A method for load-balancing a network, the network comprising a number of sever computers that serve I/O requests directed by a number of client computers to resources via the server computers, each server computer receiving I/O requests from client computers, the resources initially served by at least two server computers, each resource associated with an administrative server computer that carries out an administrative portion of each I/O request directed to the resource, the method comprising: receiving at a first server computer an I/O request directed to a resource; carrying out the I/O request by the first server computer and, when the first server computer is not an administrative server computer for the resource, by an administrative computer assigned to the resource; determining by the first server computer that the first server computer has exceeded a utilization threshold by detecting at the client computer a delay in carrying out, by the first server computer, the I/O request directed to the resource; and re-directing by the first server computer subsequent I/O requests directed to the resource by at lest one client computer to an alternate server computer that serves I/O requests for the resource.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
84 words
The method of claim 1 wherein re-directing subsequent I/O requests directed to the resource by at least one client computer to an alternate server computer that serves I/O requests for the resource further comprises: determining by the client computer a second server computer that serves the resource: ascertaining by the client computer that utilization of the first server computer exceeds utilization of the second server computer; and altering state information on the client computer to direct subsequent I/O requests to the second server computer.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
195 words
A method for load-balancing a network, the network comprising a number of server computers that serve I/O requests directed by a number of client computers to resources via the server computers, each server computer receiving I/O requests from client computers, the resources initially served by at least two server computer, each resource associated with an administrative server computer that carries out an administrative portion of each I/O request directed to the resource, the method comprising: forming a single system image by a client computer showing all available paths through the number of server computers to a resource; receiving at a first server computer an I/O request directed to the resource by the client computer; carrying out the I/O request by the first server computer and, when the first server computer is not an administrative server computer for the resource, by an administrative computer assigned to the resource; determining by the first server computer that the first server computer has exceeded at utilization threshold; and re-directing by the first server computer subsequent I/O requests directed to the resource by at least one client computer to an alternate server computer that serves I/O requests for the resource.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
195 words
A method for load-balancing a network, the network comprising a number of server computers that serve I/O requests directed by a number of client computers to resources via the server computers, each server computer receiving I/O requests from client computers, the resources initially served by at least two server computer, each resource associated with an administrative server computer that carries out an administrative portion of each I/O request directed to the resource, the method comprising: forming a single system image by a client computer showing all available paths through the number of server computers to a resource; receiving at a first server computer an I/O request directed to the resource by the client computer; carrying out the I/O request by the first server computer and, when the first server computer is not an administrative server computer for the resource, by an administrative computer assigned to the resource; determining by the first server computer that the first server computer has exceeded at utilization threshold; and re-directing by the first server computer subsequent I/O requests directed to the resource by at least one client computer to an alternate server computer that serves I/O requests for the resource.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
117 words
The method of claim 3 wherein re-directing subsequent I/O requests directed to the resource by at least one client computer to an alternate server computer that serves I/O requests for the resources further comprises: correlating, in the single system image, the resource with indications of all corresponding server computers that serve I/O requests directed to the resource; tagging each of the indications of corresponding server computers with a time tag indicating a time at which a re-direct command was last received by the client computer from the server computer; and selecting at the alternate server computer the server computer having an indication tagged with a time tag earlier in time than the other indications of server computers.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
50 words
The method of claim 4 further comprising: updating the single system image to exclude from among the indications of server computers those server computers that become unavailable for serving I/O requests and to include within the indications of server computers those server computers that become available for serving I/O requests.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
161 words
A method for recovering from server computer failures in a network, the network comprising a number of server computers that serve I/O requests directed from a number of client computers to resources via the server computers, the resources initially served by at least two server computers, each resource associated with an administrative server computer that carries out an administrative portion of each I/O request directed to the resource, the method comprising: forming a single system image at a client computer showing all available tasks through the number of server computers to a resource; sending an I/O request directed to the resource from the client computer to a first server computer; determining that an I/O failure occurred on the first server computer; re-directing subsequent I/O requests directed to the resource in the client computer to an alternate computer; and updating the single system image by the client computer to exclude from all available paths those paths that include the first server computer.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
161 words
A method for recovering from server computer failures in a network, the network comprising a number of server computers that serve I/O requests directed from a number of client computers to resources via the server computers, the resources initially served by at least two server computers, each resource associated with an administrative server computer that carries out an administrative portion of each I/O request directed to the resource, the method comprising: forming a single system image at a client computer showing all available tasks through the number of server computers to a resource; sending an I/O request directed to the resource from the client computer to a first server computer; determining that an I/O failure occurred on the first server computer; re-directing subsequent I/O requests directed to the resource in the client computer to an alternate computer; and updating the single system image by the client computer to exclude from all available paths those paths that include the first server computer.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 6 further comprising: updating the single system image to include among the available path all paths that include the first server computer when the first server computer becomes available.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
88 words
The method of claim 7 further comprising: correlating, in the single system image, the resource with indications of all corresponding server computers that serve I/O requests directed to the resource; tagging each of the indications of corresponding server computers with a time tag indicating a time at which a re-direct command was last received by the computer from the server computer; and selecting as the alternate server computer the server computer having indication tagged with a time tag earlier in time than the other indications of server computers.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-02-06 | 2004-08-07 | 2005-02-06 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-02-06 | 2008-08-07 | 2009-02-06 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-02-06 | 2012-08-07 | 2013-02-06 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |