US 9,756,086 B1Granted

Distributed connection management

AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.

InventorsJason George McHugh, Paul Francis Dean Ferraro

Life of this patent

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Abstract

Persistent connections between multiple client devices and multiple back-end service components are managed using a consistent hashing-based approach to route distribution. A load balancer distributes the connections across multiple gateway servers. Each connection is associated with a device having an identifier, which can be hashed using a selected hashing algorithm. The gateway servers are assigned values over a hashing range. When a connection is established for a device, the hash value for that device can be mapped to a corresponding gateway server. The primary gateway server establishing the connection can store information (e.g., the port or interface) for the connection, and can send identifying information to the corresponding gateway server determined by the hash value. When a backend service wants to locate the connection, the service hashes the device identifier to determine the corresponding gateway server, which returns the identity of the primary gateway server hosting the connection.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A computer-implemented method for providing a connection in a network comprising a plurality of gateway hosts, a client device, and a computing environment, comprising:

receiving, from the client device, a first request to establish a connection for communication with a service provided using one or more resources of the computing environment, the client device associated with a device identifier;
selecting, using a load balancing algorithm, a primary gateway host of the plurality of gateway hosts;
enabling the primary gateway host to accept the connection for the client device;
performing, using a selected hashing algorithm, a hash of the device identifier to determine a hash key for the connection;
causing the primary gateway host to determine a routing gateway host of the plurality of gateway hosts using the hash key, the routing gateway host corresponding to a portion of an entire range of possible hash values;
causing the primary gateway host to provide information for the connection to the routing gateway host;
causing the routing gateway host to respond to a second request for information about the connection, the second request being received from a component of the computing environment having identified the routing gateway host by applying the selected hashing algorithm to the device identifier to determine the hash key for the connection;
causing the routing gateway host to send to the component of the computing environment, identifying information for the primary gateway host;
receiving, at the primary gateway host from the component of the computing environment, second information;
and
causing the primary gateway host to send the second information to the client device.

8 more elements

A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving, from a computing device, a first request to establish a persistent connection, the computing device associated with a device identifier;
selecting a primary gateway host of a plurality of gateway hosts to maintain the persistent connection;
performing a hash of the device identifier using a hashing algorithm to determine a hash key for the persistent connection;
sending instructions to the primary gateway host to determine a routing gateway host of the plurality of gateway hosts using the hash key, the routing gateway host corresponding to a portion of an entire range of possible hash values;
sending instructions to the primary gateway host to provide information for the persistent connection to the routing gateway host;
sending instructions to the routing gateway host to respond to a second request from an entity for information about the persistent connection, the entity having identified the routing gateway host using the hash key;
sending instructions to the routing gateway host to provide identifying information for the primary gateway host to the entity;
sending instructions to the primary gateway host to receive second information from the entity;
and
sending instructions to the primary gateway host to send the second information to the computing device.

7 more elements

A computer system, comprising:

at least one processor;
and
a memory device including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computer system to:
receive, from a computing device, a first request to establish a persistent connection, the computing device associated with a device identifier;
select a primary gateway host of a plurality of gateway hosts to maintain the persistent connection;
perform a hash of the device identifier by applying a hashing algorithm to determine a hash key for the persistent connection;
send instructions to the primary gateway host to determine a routing gateway host of the plurality of gateway hosts using the hash key, the routing gateway host corresponding to a portion of an entire range of possible hash values;
send instructions to the primary gateway host to provide information for the persistent connection to the routing gateway host;
send instructions to the routing gateway host to respond to a second request from an entity for information about the persistent connection, the entity having identified the routing gateway host using the hash key;
send instructions to the routing gateway host to provide identifying information for the primary gateway host to the entity;
send instructions to the primary gateway host to receive second information from the entity;
and
send instructions to the primary gateway host to send the second information to the computing device.

10 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

receive, from a computing device, a first request to establish a persistent connection, the computing device associated with a device identifier;
select a primary gateway host of a plurality of gateway hosts to maintain the persistent connection;
perform a hash of the device identifier by applying a hashing algorithm to determine a hash key for the persistent connection;
send instructions to the primary gateway host to determine a routing gateway host of the plurality of gateway hosts using the hash key, the routing gateway host corresponding to a portion of an entire range of possible hash values;
send instructions to the primary gateway host to provide information for the persistent connection to the routing gateway host;
send instructions to the routing gateway host to respond to a second request from an entity for information about the persistent connection, the entity having identified the routing gateway host using the hash key;
send instructions to the routing gateway host to provide identifying information for the primary gateway host to the entity;
send instructions to the primary gateway host to receive second information from the entity;
and
send instructions to the primary gateway host to send the second information to the computing device.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.