Load balancing among multiple endpoint computing systems of a domain

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020162385-A1
Application number	US-201816197069-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 20, 2018
Priority date	Nov 20, 2018
Publication date	May 21, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method for load balancing among multiple endpoint computing systems of a domain includes receiving a request to access the domain; identifying a target endpoint from the multiple endpoint computing systems based on routing logic for the domain; obtaining a load metric for the target endpoint; determining whether the load metric for the target endpoint satisfies an overload condition; and redirecting a fractional portion of traffic of the domain away from the target endpoint and to an alternate endpoint of the multiple endpoint computing systems in response to determining that the load metric for the target endpoint satisfies the overload condition.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of for load balancing among multiple endpoint computing systems of a domain comprising:
receiving a domain name server (DNS) request to access the domain, each of the multiple endpoint computing systems servicing the domain being addressable by a different network address; identifying a target endpoint for the DNS request from the multiple endpoint computing systems based on routing logic for the domain; obtaining a load metric for the target endpoint; determining whether the load metric for the target endpoint satisfies an overload condition, the overload condition specifying an overload threshold over which the target endpoint is considered overloaded; and redirecting a fractional portion of traffic of the domain away from the target endpoint and to an alternate endpoint of the multiple endpoint computing systems in response to determining that the load metric for the target endpoint satisfies the overload condition, the fractional portion of traffic redirected away from the target endpoint being dependent upon an amount by which the load metric exceeds the overload threshold.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the load metric for the target endpoint satisfies an overload condition further comprises:
calculating the fractional portion of the traffic to redirect away from the target endpoint based on the overload condition and the obtained load metric.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
querying the target endpoint to request the load metric responsive to receipt of the DNS request; and receiving the load metric responsive to the request.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the target endpoint is the endpoint computing system having a closest geographic proximity to an origin of the DNS request and wherein redirecting the fractional portion of traffic away from the target endpoint further comprises:
identifying an alternate endpoint of the multiple endpoint computing systems, the alternative endpoint having a next-closest geographic proximity to the origin of the DNS request; obtaining the load metric for the alternate endpoint; determining whether the load metric satisfies the overload condition for the alternate endpoint; and redirecting the fractional portion of the traffic to the alternate endpoint when the obtained load metric does not satisfy the overload condition.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein redirecting the fractional portion of traffic of the domain away from the target endpoint and to an alternate endpoint further comprises:
redirecting the fractional portion of traffic of the domain away from the target endpoint throughout a rebalancing period; requesting a new load metric for the target endpoint responsive to termination of the rebalancing period; and determining whether the new load metric satisfies the overload condition; and stop redirecting the fractional portion of the traffic of the domain away from the target endpoint responsive to a determination that the new load metric does not satisfy the overload condition.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the load metric depends upon a quantity of user traffic being serviced at the target endpoint.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the load metric is a measurement of at least one metric selected from a group comprising:
power consumption, average response time, a number of established connections, and available data bandwidth.

8 . A system for load balancing among multiple endpoint computing systems of a domain, the system comprising:
memory; multiple endpoint computing systems servicing the domain and each being addressable by a different network address; and a traffic manager stored in the memory and executable to:
receive a domain name server (DNS) request to access the domain;
identify a target endpoint for the DNS request from the multiple endpoint computing systems based on routing logic for the domain;
obtain a load metric for the target endpoint;
determine whether the load metric for the target endpoint satisfies an overload condition; and
redirect a fractional portion of traffic of the domain away from the target endpoint and to an alternate endpoint of the multiple endpoint computing systems in response to determining that the load metric for the target endpoint satisfies the overload condition.

9 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the overload condition specifies an overload threshold over which the target endpoint is considered overloaded and the fractional portion of traffic redirected away from the target endpoint is dependent upon an amount by which the load metric exceeds the overload threshold.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the traffic manager is further executable to:
calculate the fractional portion of the traffic to redirect away from the target endpoint based on the overload condition and the obtained load metric.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the traffic manager is further executable to:
query the target endpoint to request the load metric responsive to receipt of the DNS request; and receive the load metric responsive to the request.

12 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the target endpoint is the endpoint computing system having a closest geographic proximity to an origin of the DNS request and wherein the traffic manager redirects the fractional portion of traffic away from the target endpoint by:
identifying an alternate endpoint of the multiple endpoint computing systems, the alternative endpoint having a next-closest geographic proximity to the origin of the DNS request; obtaining the load metric for the alternate endpoint; determining whether the load metric satisfies the overload condition for the alternate endpoint; and redirecting the fractional portion of the traffic to the alternate endpoint responsive to determining that the obtained load metric satisfies the overload condition.

13 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the traffic manager is further executable to:
redirect the fractional portion of traffic of the domain away from the target endpoint throughout a rebalancing period; request a new load metric for the target endpoint responsive to termination of the rebalancing period; and determine whether the new load metric satisfies the overload condition; and stop redirecting the fractional portion of the traffic of the domain away from the target endpoint responsive to a determination that the new load metric does not satisfy the overload condition.

14 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the load metric depends upon a quantity of user traffic being serviced at the target endpoint.

15 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the load metric is a measurement of at least one metric selected from a group comprising:
power consumption, average response time, a number of established connections, and available data bandwidth.

16 . One or more memory devices encoding computer-executable instructions for executing a computer process for load balancing among multiple endpoint computing systems of a domain, the computer process comprising:
receiving a domain name server (DNS) request to access the domain, each of the multiple endpoint computing systems servicing the domain being addressable by a different network address; identifying a target endpoint for the DNS request from the multiple endpoint computing systems based on routing logic for the domain; obtaining a load metric for the target endpoint; determining whether the load metric for the target endpoint satisfies an overload condition; and redirecting a fractional portion of traffic of

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Thiagarajan Prabu Raj
• Mandal Debarghya
• Tatlicioglu Mehmet
• Callaway Allen Brice
• Kulkarni Hrishikesh D
• Lukose Dilip Kurian

Classifications

• H04L45/24

  Multipath · CPC title

• H04L67/1021

  based on client or server locations · CPC title

• H04L43/0876

  Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level · CPC title

• H04L67/1008

  based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload (monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30) · CPC title

• H04L45/74

  Address processing for routing · CPC title