Continuous monitoring of containers using monitor containers configured as sidecar containers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11539602-B2
Application number	US-202017001367-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 24, 2020
Priority date	Aug 24, 2020
Publication date	Dec 27, 2022
Grant date	Dec 27, 2022

Abstract

Systems and methods discussed herein are directed to monitoring an application pod of a network using a sidecar container. The application pod comprises one or more containers and the sidecar container, where each of the one or more containers hosts a service for traffic of the network. The monitoring comprises periodically executing checks of a plurality of checks on the containers. The sidecar container, based at least in part on the checks, determines that a container is non-compliant. Based at least in part on the container being non-compliant, the container is removed from service. The container may be fixed and placed back in service or may be replaced with a new container that provides the service.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
monitoring, by a monitor sidecar container, a first application pod in a first geographic region of a network, the first application pod comprising multiple containers and multiple monitor sidecar containers,
each of the multiple containers hosting a service for traffic of the network, the monitor sider container being a first monitor sidecar container of the multiple monitor sidecar containers, the first monitor sidecar container configured to monitor a first container of the multiple containers,
other monitor sidecar containers of the multiple monitor sidecar containers configured to individually monitor corresponding containers of the multiple containers, and
the monitoring comprising periodically executing a first check of a plurality of checks on the first container of the multiple containers;

determining, by the monitor sidecar container and based at least in part on the first check, that the first container is non-compliant;
removing, based at least in part on the first container being non-compliant, the first container from service;
replacing the first container, until the first container is fixed, by routing traffic to a different container of one or more containers in a second application pod in a second geographic region different from the first geographic region, the different container providing a same service as the first container;
fixing the first container; and
placing the first container into service.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein periodically executing the first check of the plurality of checks on the first container comprises periodically executing the first check on the first container at an execution frequency in a range of hourly, daily, every other day, every third day, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first check is executed at a first execution frequency and a second check of the plurality of checks is execution at a second execution frequency different from the first execution frequency.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
storing the checks and corresponding execution frequencies in a central repository; and
retrieving, by the monitor sidecar container, the checks and corresponding execution frequencies from the central repository.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
storing one or more new checks and one or more corresponding new execution frequencies in the central repository; and
retrieving, by the monitor sidecar container, the one or more new checks and the one or more corresponding new execution frequencies from the central repository.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the monitor sidecar container is configured to monitor all of the multiple containers in the first application pod.

7. A non-transitory storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon, the instructions being executable by one or more processors to perform actions comprising:
implementing a monitor sidecar container within a first application pod in a first geographic region of a network;
monitoring, by the monitor sidecar container, the first application pod, the first application pod comprising multiple containers and multiple monitor sidecar containers,
each of the multiple containers hosting a service for traffic of the network,
the monitor sider container being a first monitor sidecar container of the multiple monitor sidecar containers, the first monitor sidecar container configured to monitor a first container of the multiple containers,
other monitor sidecar containers of the multiple monitor sidecar containers configured to individually monitor corresponding containers of the multiple containers, and
the monitoring comprising periodically executing a first check of a plurality of checks on the first container of the multiple containers;

determining, by the monitor sidecar container and based at least in part on the first check, that the first container is non-compliant;
removing, based at least in part on the first container being non-compliant, the first container from service;
replacing the first container, until the first container is fixed, by routing traffic to a different container of one or more containers in a second application pod in a second geographic region different from the first geographic region, the different container providing a same service as the first container;
fixing the first container; and
placing the first container into service.

8. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 7 , wherein periodically executing the first check of the plurality of checks on the first container comprises periodically executing the first check on the first container at an execution frequency in a range of hourly, daily, every other day, every third day, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.

9. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the first check is execution at a first execution frequency and a second check of the plurality of checks is executed at a second execution frequency different from the first execution frequency.

10. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the actions further comprise:
storing the checks and corresponding execution frequencies in a central repository; and
retrieving, by the monitor sidecar container, the checks and corresponding execution frequencies from the central repository.

11. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the actions further comprise:
storing one or more new checks and one or more corresponding new execution frequencies in the central repository; and
retrieving, by the monitor sidecar container, the one or more new checks and the one or more corresponding new execution frequencies from the central repository.

12. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the monitor sidecar container is configured to monitor all of the multiple containers in the first application pod.

13. An apparatus comprising:
one or more processors; and
a non-transitory storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon, the instructions being executable by the one or more processors to cause the processors to perform one or more actions comprising:
implementing a monitor sidecar container within a first application pod in a first geographic region of a network;
monitoring, by the monitor sidecar container, the first application pod, the first application pod comprising multiple containers and multiple monitor sidecar containers,
each of the multiple containers hosting a service for traffic of the network,
the monitor sidecar container being a first monitor sidecar container of the multiple monitor sidecar containers, the first monitor sider container configured to monitor a first container of the multiple containers,
other monitor sidecar containers of the multiple monitor sidecar containers configured to individually monitor corresponding containers of the multiple containers, and
the monitoring comprising periodically executing a first check of a plurality of checks on the first container of the multiple containers;

determining, by the monitor sidecar container and based at least in part on the first check, that the first container is non-compliant;
removing, based at least in part on the first container being non-compliant, the first container from service;
replacing the first container, until the first container is fixed, by routing traffic to a different container of one or more containers in a second application pod in a second geographic region different from the first geographic region, the different container providing a same service as the first container;
fixing the first container; and
placing t

Assignees

• T Mobile Usa Inc

Inventors

• Shishir Hemang
• Gopinathan Ramprakash

Classifications

• H04L43/10

  Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route · CPC title

• H04L63/1408 Primary

  by monitoring network traffic (monitoring network traffic per se H04L43/00) · CPC title

• G06F11/323

  Visualisation of programs or trace data · CPC title

• G06F11/0754

  by exceeding limits · CPC title

• H04L63/20

  for managing network security; network security policies in general (filtering policies H04L63/0227) · CPC title