Apparatus and method for performing traffic redirection in a distributed system using a portion metric

A method for distributing a service request, the method comprising:

• determining a metric value associated with each one of a plurality of servers;
• configuring a tolerance range used in comparing the metric value for each one of the plurality of servers;
• comparing the metric value for each one of the plurality of servers to obtain a set of the plurality of servers, each one of the set of the plurality of servers having a metric value within the tolerance range;
• applying an alternate metric to the set of the plurality of servers to obtain a selected server when the set of the plurality of servers includes more than one server, and otherwise establishing that the selected server is the obtained set of the plurality of servers;
• and
• providing the selected server.

A method for distributing a service request, the method comprising:

• associating each one of a plurality of servers with a Domain Name System host name, each one of the plurality of servers having a unique IP address;
• assigning a portion metric to each one of the plurality of servers, the portion metric designating a portion of total server requests to be allocated to the one of the plurality of servers;
• receiving a server request, the server request being a Domain Name System host name query including the Domain Name System host name;
• incrementing a total number of server requests processed by the plurality of servers;
• maintaining a number of server requests distributed to each one of the plurality of servers;
• selecting one of the plurality of servers using the portion metric assigned to each one of the plurality of servers, the number of server requests distributed to each one of the plurality of servers, and the total number of server requests;
• and
• providing an IP address associated with the selected one of the plurality of servers.

A method for distributing a service request, the method comprising:

• assigning a portion metric to each one of a plurality of servers, the portion metric designating a portion of total server requests to be allocated to the one of the plurality of servers;
• adding the portion metric for each one of the plurality of servers to obtain a total portion metric;
• maintaining a number of server requests distributed to each one of the plurality of servers;
• receiving a server request;
• incrementing a total number of server requests processed by the plurality of servers;
• computing a server request percentage for each one of the plurality of servers, the server request percentage for one of the plurality of servers being a product of the number of server requests distributed to the one of the plurality of servers and the total portion metric divided by the total number of server requests received;
• calculating a metric value for each one of the plurality of servers, the metric value for one of the plurality of servers being defined by the server request percentage for the one of the plurality of servers and the portion metric for the one of the plurality of servers;
• comparing the metric value for each one of the plurality of servers to obtain a selected server;
• applying an alternate metric to the selected server when the selected server includes more than one server;
• and
• providing the selected server.

A method for distributing a service request, the method comprising:

• assigning a portion metric to each one of a plurality of servers, the portion metric designating a portion of total server requests to be allocated to the one of the plurality of servers;
• adding the portion metric for each one of the plurality of servers to obtain a total portion metric;
• maintaining a number of server requests distributed to each one of the plurality of servers;
• receiving a server request;
• incrementing a total number of server requests processed by the plurality of servers;
• computing a server request percentage for each one of the plurality of servers, the server request percentage for one of the plurality of servers being a product of the number of server requests distributed to the one of the plurality of servers and the total portion metric divided by the total number of server requests received;
• calculating a metric value for each one of the plurality of servers, the metric value for one of the plurality of servers being defined by the server request percentage for the one of the plurality of servers and the portion metric for the one of the plurality of servers;
• configuring a tolerance range used in comparing the metric value for each one of the plurality of servers;
• comparing the metric value for each one of the plurality of servers to obtain a set of the plurality of servers, each one of the set of the plurality of servers having a metric value within the tolerance range;
• applying an alternate metric to the set of the plurality of servers to obtain a selected server when the set of the plurality of servers includes more than one server, and otherwise establishing that the selected server is the obtained set of the plurality of servers;
• and
• providing the selected server.

A method for detecting load imbalance within a distributed system, the method comprising:

• assigning a portion metric to each one of a plurality of servers, the portion metric designating a portion of total server requests to be allocated to the one of the plurality of servers;
• adding the portion metric for each one of the plurality of servers to obtain a total portion metric;
• maintaining a number of server requests distributed to each one of the plurality of servers;
• receiving a server request;
• incrementing a total number of server requests processed by the plurality of servers;
• computing a server request percentage for each one of the plurality of servers, the server request percentage for one of the plurality of servers being a product of the number of server requests distributed to the one of the plurality of servers and the total portion metric divided by the total number of server requests received;
• calculating a metric value for each one of the plurality of servers, the metric value for one of the plurality of servers being defined by the server request percentage for the one of the plurality of servers and the portion metric for the one of the plurality of servers;
• configuring a tolerance range used in comparing the metric value for each one of the plurality of servers;
• comparing the metric value for each one of the plurality of servers to obtain a set of the plurality of servers, each one of the set of the plurality of servers having a metric value within the tolerance range;
• detecting load imbalance when the set of the plurality of servers includes only one server;
• and
• applying an alternate metric to the set of the plurality of servers to obtain a selected server when the set of the plurality of servers includes more than one server, and otherwise establishing that the selected server is the obtained set of the plurality of servers.