Synchronizing communication channel state information for high flow availability

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022210005-A1
Application number	US-202117556540-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 20, 2021
Priority date	Dec 30, 2020
Publication date	Jun 30, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

For a communication channel having a first endpoint in a customer on-premise network and a second endpoint on a primary host machine in a cloud service provider infrastructure, the primary host machine determines a change in a state information of the communication channel and identifies a backup host machine for the communication channel. The primary host machine causes the change in the state information to be replicated to the backup host machine, wherein the replicated state information stored by the backup host machine is usable by the backup host machine after a failover causes the backup host machine to become the second endpoint of the communication channel.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
for a communication channel having a first endpoint in a customer on-premise network and a second endpoint on a primary host machine in a cloud service provider infrastructure, determining, by the primary host machine, a change in a state information of the communication channel; identifying, by the primary host machine, a backup host machine for the communication channel; and causing, by the primary host machine, the change in the state information to be replicated to the backup host machine, wherein the replicated state information stored by the backup host machine is usable by the backup host machine after a failover causes the backup host machine to become the second endpoint of the communication channel

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein replicating the change in the state information of the communication channel to the backup host machine comprises:
determining, by the primary host machine, whether the replication of the change in the state information is to be performed in a safe mode, wherein the change in the state information is identified by analyzing a packet received at the primary host machine; upon determining that the replication of the change in the state information is to be performed within the safe mode:
suspending, by the primary host machine, processing of the packet;
communicating, by the primary host machine, the change in the state information to the backup host machine, wherein the backup host machine is a successor host machine of the primary host machine within a replication chain;
receiving, by the primary host machine, an acknowledgement indicating that the backup host machine has replicated the state information; and
responsive to receiving the acknowledgment, resuming, by the primary host machine, processing of the packet.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
upon determining that the replication of the change in the state information is not to be performed in the safe mode:
communicating, by the primary host machine, the change in the state information to the backup host machine; and
processing the packet by the primary host machine.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the state information of the communication channel comprises at least one of a sequence number, cryptographic state information, Internet Key Exchange (IKE) state information, and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) state information.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of determining that the replication of the change in the state information is to be performed in the safe mode further comprises:
determining, by the primary host machine, that a downtime for the primary host machine is scheduled within a threshold time-interval.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the change in the state information of the communication channel further comprises:
detecting, by the primary host machine, an event triggering the change in the state information of the communication channel; and analyzing, by the primary host machine, a packet associated with the event to determine the change in the state information.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the event triggering the change in the state information is at least one of:
receiving a packet at the primary host machine; receiving a change in encryption or decryption information for a connection for the communication channel; and receiving a change in Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) state information for the connection.

8 . The method of claim 2 , wherein identifying the backup host machine for the communication channel further comprises:
querying, by the primary host machine, a disk-backed storage server to identify the replication chain for the communication channel; and determining, by the primary host machine, the backup host machine for the communication channel within the replication chain, wherein the primary host machine is a head of the replication chain and the backup host machine is a successor host machine of the primary host machine in the replication chain.

9 . The method of claim 2 , wherein analyzing a packet received at the primary host machine further comprises:
hashing, by the primary host machine, a portion of the packet to generate a hash result; and identifying, by the primary host machine, the state information of the communication channel based on the hash result.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication channel is an Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) tunnel.

11 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a processor of a computer system to perform a method comprising:
for a communication channel having a first endpoint in a customer on-premise network and a second endpoint on a primary host machine in a cloud service provider infrastructure, determining, by the primary host machine, a change in a state information of the communication channel; identifying, by the primary host machine, a backup host machine for the communication channel; and causing, by the primary host machine, the change in the state information to be replicated to the backup host machine, wherein the replicated state information stored by the backup host machine is usable by the backup host machine after a failover causes the backup host machine to become the second endpoint of the communication channel.

12 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein replicating the change in the state information for the communication channel to the backup host machine comprising:
determining, by the primary host machine, whether the replication of the change in the state information is to be performed in a safe mode, wherein the change in the state information is identified by analyzing a packet received at the primary host machine; upon determining that the replication of the change in the state information is to be performed within the safe mode:
suspending, by the primary host machine, processing of the packet;
communicating, by the primary host machine, the change in the state information to the backup host machine, wherein the backup host machine is a successor host machine of the primary host machine within a replication chain;
receiving, by the primary host machine, an acknowledgement indicating that the backup host machine has replicated the state information; and
responsive to receiving the acknowledgment, resuming, by the primary host machine, processing of the packet.

13 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , further comprising:
upon determining that the replication of the change in the state information is not to be performed in the safe mode:
communicating, by the primary host machine, the change in the state information to the backup host machine; and
processing the packet by the primary host machine.

14 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the state information for the communication channel comprises at least one of a sequence number, cryptographic state information, and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) state information.

15 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the step of determining that the replication of the change in the state information is to be performed in the safe mode further comprises:
determining, by the primary host machine, that a downtime for the primary host machine is scheduled within a threshold time-interval.

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1

Assignees

• Oracle Int Corp

Inventors

• Keane John Eric
• King Myron Decker
• Kreger-Stickles Lucas Michael

Classifications

• G06F11/2097

  maintaining the standby controller/processing unit updated (initialisation or re-synchronisation thereof G06F11/1658 and subgroups) · CPC title

• G06F11/203

  using migration · CPC title

• G06F11/2028

  eliminating a faulty processor or activating a spare · CPC title

• H04L67/1034

  Reaction to server failures by a load balancer · CPC title

• H04L67/1095

  Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes · CPC title