Foundry Networks, Inc.

Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.

Avago Technologies International Sales Pte. Limited

Sunanda Lakshmi Kommula

Rajkumar Ramniranjan Jalan

Ivy Pei-Shan Hsu

Prajakta S Joshi

David Chun Ying Cheung

Canonical name (CNAME) handling is performed in a system configured for global server load balancing (GSLB), which orders IP addresses into a list based on a set of performance metrics. When the GSLB switch receives a reply from an authoritative DNS server, the GSLB switch scans the reply for CNAME records. If a CNAME record is detected and it points to a host name configured for GSLB, then a GSLB algorithm is applied to the reply. This involves identifying the host name (pointed to by the CNAME record) in the reply and applying the metrics to the list of returned IP addresses corresponding to that host name, to reorder the list to place the 'best' IP address at the top. If the CNAME record in the reply points to a host name that is not configured for GSLB, then the GSLB sends the reply unaltered to the inquiring client.

Canonical name (CNAME) handling for global server load balancing

A global server load-balancing (GSLB) switch serves as a proxy to an authoritative DNS and communicates with numerous site switches that are coupled to host servers serving specific applications. The GSLB switch receives from site switches operational information regarding host servers within the site switches neighborhood. When a client program requests a resolution of a host name, the GSLB switch, acting as a proxy of an authoritative DNS, returns one or more ordered IP addresses for the host name. The IP addresses are ordered using metrics that include the information collected from the site switches or based on other metric information. Examples of metrics include weighted site, weighted IP, and active bindings metrics. The GSLB switch places the address that is deemed 'best' at the top of the list.

Global server load balancing

Server load-balancing operation-related data, such as data associated with a system configured for global server load balancing (GSLB) that orders IP addresses into a list based on a set of performance metrics, is tracked. Such operation-related data includes inbound source IP addresses (e.g., the address of the originator of a DNS request), the requested host and zone, identification of the selected 'best' IP addresses resulting from application of a GSLB algorithm and the selection metric used to decide on an IP address as the 'best' one. Furthermore, the data includes a count of the selected &#x201c;best&#x201d; IP addresses selected via application of the GSLB algorithm, and for each of these IP addresses, the list of deciding performance metrics, along with a count of the number of times each of these metrics in the list was used as a deciding factor in selection of this IP address as the best one. This tracking feature allows better understanding of GSLB policy decisions (such as those associated with performance, maintenance, and troubleshooting) and intelligent deployment of large-scale resilient GSLB networks.

Statistical tracking for global server load balancing

A global server load-balancing (GSLB) switch serves as a proxy to an authoritative DNS and communicates with numerous site switches that are coupled to host servers serving specific applications. The GSLB switch receives from site switches operational information regarding host servers within the site switches neighborhood. When a client program requests a resolution of a host name, the GSLB switch, acting as a proxy of an authoritative DNS, returns one or more ordered IP addresses for the host name. The IP addresses are ordered using metrics that include the information collected from the site switches. In one instance, the GSLB switch places the address that is deemed 'best' at the top of the list.

Server load-balancing operation-related data, such as data associated with a system configured for global server load balancing (GSLB) that orders IP addresses into a list based on a set of performance metrics, is tracked. Such operation-related data includes inbound source IP addresses (e.g., the address of the originator of a DNS request), the requested host and zone, identification of the selected 'best' IP addresses resulting from application of a GSLB algorithm, and the selection metric used to decide on an IP address as the 'best' one. The data includes a count of the selected &#x201c;best&#x201d; IP addresses selected via application of the GSLB algorithm, and for each of these IP addresses, the list of deciding performance metrics, along with a count of the number of times each of these metrics in the list was used as a deciding factor in selection of this IP address as the best one. This tracking feature allows better understanding of GSLB policy decisions (such as those associated with performance, maintenance, and troubleshooting) and intelligent deployment of large-scale resilient GSLB networks. The counters can be cleared as needed and without having to reload the system.

Method and system to clear counters used for statistical tracking for global server load balancing

Statistical tracking of global server load balancing for selecting the best network address from ordered list of network addresses based on a set of performance metrics

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Sunanda Lakshmi Kommula