Fault-tolerant data diodes for one-way transfer systems
AssigneeMicrosoft Technology Licensing, LLC
InventorsJeffrey Allen WEST, Kenneth Russell KLINZMAN, David Scott WILLARD
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and systems for transferring data through a one-way transfer (OWT) system using a fault-tolerant data diode. Data from a source computing environment may be converted to an optical signal that is then split into duplicate signals. The duplicate optical signals are received by two receiving devices that have optical receivers. The receiving devices operate as either a primary device or a secondary device to continue transmission of the received data. The operating states of the receiving devices may change based the health or status of the respective devices.
Claims20
A one-way transfer (OWT) system comprising:
- a transmitting computing device, located in a source computing environment, comprising an optical transmitter that transmits optical signals corresponding to data transmitted by the transmitting computing device;
- a beam splitter that splits or duplicates the optical signals from the optical transmitter into a first optical fiber and a second optical fiber;
- a first receiving device comprising a first optical receiver, coupled to the first optical fiber, that converts the optical signal from the first optical fiber into a first electrical data signal representing the data transmitted by the transmitting computing device;
- and
- a second receiving device comprising a second optical receiver, coupled to the second optical fiber, that converts the optical signal from the second optical fiber into an electrical data signal representing the data transmitted by the transmitting computing device, the second receiving device comprising memory and instructions stored in memory that when executed perform operations comprising:
- operating as a secondary device, while the first receiving device operates as a primary device, by dropping the data received from the second optical fiber;
- and
- in response to the first receiving device functioning outside a functionality threshold, operating as the primary device by transmitting the data received from the second optical fiber toward a destination computing environment.
A computer-implemented method for operating a fault-tolerant data diode in a one-way transfer system, the method comprising:
- receiving, by a first receiving device from a first optical fiber coupled to a beam splitter, first optical data representing data transmitted from a transmitting device through the beam splitter;
- receiving, by a second receiving device from a second optical fiber coupled to the beam splitter, second optical data representing the data;
- receiving, by the second receiving device from the first receiving device at a first point in time, first status data representing performance of the first receiving device;
- based on at least one of:
- (1) the first status data or (2) not receiving second status data within a timeout period after the first point in time:
- changing an operating state of the second receiving device to be a primary device for transmitting the received optical data;
- and
- changing an operating state of the first receiving device to be a secondary device and drop the received optical data;
- and
- while the second receiving device is in the primary-device operating state, transmitting the data by the second receiving device.
A computer-implemented method for operating a fault-tolerant data diode in a one-way transfer system, the method comprising:
- receiving, by a first receiving device from a first optical fiber coupled to a first passive beam splitter, first optical data representing first data transmitted from a first transmitting device through the first passive beam splitter;
- receiving, by a second receiving device from a second optical fiber coupled to the first passive beam splitter, second optical data representing the first data;
- receiving, by the first receiving device from a third optical fiber coupled to a second passive beam splitter, third optical data representing second data transmitted from a second transmitting device through the second passive beam splitter;
- receiving, by the second receiving device from a fourth optical fiber coupled to the second passive beam splitter, fourth optical data representing the second data;
- at a first point in time, based on the first receiving device being in an operating state as a primary device for the first transmitting device and a secondary device for the second transmitting device:
- transmitting, by the first receiving device, the first data;
- and
- dropping, by the first receiving device, the second data;
- at the first point in time, based on the second device being in an operating state as a primary device for the second transmitting device and a second device for the first transmitting device:
- transmitting, by the second receiving device, the second data;
- and
- dropping, by the second receiving device, the first data.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.