Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Yogesh Bansal

Gregory Irving Thiel

Manoharan Kuppusamy

Greg Thiel

Nikita Kozhekin

Naresh Sundaram

David Andrew Sterling

Sabitha Abraham

James Charles Kleewein

Ayla Kol

Anil K Ruia

Alexander Wetmore

Rebecca Benfield

Mark Wistrom

Dhananjay Ramakrishnappa

Shuab Khan

Jon Barry Avner

Peter Byrne

Mihai R Jalobeanu

Ranjita Bhagwan

Harvey Rook

Brett A Shirley

Andrew E Goodsell

Serguei Martchenko

Robin Thomas

Ian Jose

Venkata N Padmanabhan

Parth Dhaval Thakkar

Sagar Bharadwaj Kalasibail Seetharam

Tobias Marius Klima

Umair Ahmad

Ross Edward Smith, Iv

Vijay Rajeshkumar

Kathleen Voelbel

Varun Joshi Kishanlal Joshi

Alexandre Costa

Harsha Sharma

Ravikumar Venkateswar

Dmitry Sarkisov

A system for database reversion is described. The system comprises: a database engine configured to host an active database; a log engine configured to generate transaction logs for transactions affecting the active database; a backup engine configured to create a backup data structure to allow for database reversion; and a memory buffer separate from the active database. A page in the active database has an associated page timestamp indicating a most recent update of the page in the active database. The database engine is configured to flush an updated copy of a page in the memory buffer to the active database. The backup engine is configured to, prior to the flush, store an image of the page in the active database to the backup data structure when the page in the active database is older than the time value related to the creation time of the backup data structure.

Database reversion with backup data structures

A server kernel processing system receives an input/output (I/O) request from a user mode computing environment. The I/O request is analyzed to determine whether it is a modification request to modify data in a target volume. If so, target analysis logic determines whether the request is for a target volume that is within a first or second protected volume. If the request is to modify data stored in the first protected volume, the request is blocked. If the request is to modify data in a second protected volume, then a whitelist is examined to determine whether the requesting process and user are on the whitelist. If not, the request is also blocked.

Protecting selected disks on a computer system

The techniques disclosed herein provision inter-DC WAN capacity based on network failure statistics and bandwidth demands of a cloud-hosted application. Network capacity is provisioned based on an assumption of runtime cooperation between the application and the network. For example, if the network detects that a link has failed, the application may cooperate with the network to pause a deferrable transfer, reserving bandwidth for non-deferrable transfers. With knowledge that deferrable transfers will be dynamically paused when a primary link fails, backup links may be provisioned with less capacity than the primary link. The ability to dynamically defer transfers also enables a greater degree of bandwidth smoothing, e.g. reducing peak demand by scheduling deferrable transfers for off-peak hours. This allows network links to be provisioned with less capacity than if all transfers were performed immediately.

Optimizing network provisioning through cooperation

A system for write optimization in transactional data management systems is described. The system stores a tree data structure that comprises a root, a plurality of internal nodes, and a plurality of leaf nodes. Each internal node comprises a pivot key and a child pointer. Each leaf node stores key-value pairs sorted by a corresponding key. The system forms a plurality of hybrid nodes. The hybrid nodes comprise a layer of internal nodes that are immediate parents of the plurality of leaf nodes. A buffer is formed only for each internal node of the plurality of hybrid nodes. The buffer is used to store a message that encodes an operation. The message is to be applied to the corresponding leaf nodes of the plurality of hybrid nodes.

Write optimization in transactional data management systems

Systems, methods, and software are disclosed that provide enhanced replication for message services. In one implementation, updates to a replication source are replicated to replication targets. The replication is monitored to identify an individual health of the replication for each of the replication targets. A composite health of the replication is determined based on the individual health of the replication for each of the replication targets. The updates to the replication source are then controlled based on the composite health of the replication.

Enhanced replication

An enhanced availability environment for facilitating a message service provided by a plurality of service elements is disclosed herein. The enhanced availability environment comprises a monitoring element and an enhanced availability element. The monitoring element monitors a first service element of the plurality of service elements for a monitored characteristic, generates monitoring information corresponding to the monitored characteristic, and communicates the monitoring information to the enhanced availability element. The enhanced availability element determines an availability of the first service element for the message service based at least in part on the monitoring information and an availability characteristic of the first service element, and communicates the availability to initiate an availability action.

Enhanced availability for message services

Systems, methods, and software are provided for dynamically escalating service conditions associated with data center failures. In one implementation, a monitoring system detects a service condition. The service condition may be indicative of a failure of at least one service element within a data center monitored by the monitoring system. The monitoring system determines whether or not the service condition qualifies for escalation based at least in part on an access condition associated with the data center. The access condition may be identified by at least another monitoring system that is located in a geographic region distinct from that of the first monitoring system. Upon determining that the service condition qualifies for escalation, the monitoring system escalates the service condition to an escalated condition and initiates an escalated response.

Dynamic escalation of service conditions

In a message replication environment, instances of a message volume are hosted by message systems. Each message system exchanges condition information with the other message systems indicative of the health of the volume instance hosted by the message system. Each message system then determines independently from the other message systems whether or not the message volume is sufficiently protected. In the event that the message volume is insufficiently protected, a protection action can be initiated.

Enhanced data protection for message volumes

A computer cluster can be divided into a plurality of failure scopes and a voting constraint can be enforced. The voting constraint can allow a portion of the cluster to provide the service if a majority of health votes from cluster members is obtained by that portion. A loss of connectivity between a first failure scope, which has a majority of cluster members in the cluster, and one or more other failure scopes in the cluster can be detected. The loss of connectivity can be such that the first failure scope does not have connectivity to a member in any other failure scope in the cluster. In response to detecting the loss of connectivity, a split brain situation in the cluster can be automatically protected against by preventing the first failure scope from providing the service.

Split brain protection in computer clusters

Systems, methods, and software are provided for facilitating a message service. A multi-role system is identified based on where an active message database associated with a user identity resides. Service communications generated by a messaging client associated with the user identity are directed from an entry system to the multi-role system for handling in the multi-role system by a messaging server and a content server to provide the message service.

Facilitating message services using multi-role systems

A primary active manager can manage a first copy of a database in a first computer system cluster according to a set of management rules that provide for an active copy and one or more passive copies of the database at a given time. The primary active manager can also manage a second copy of the database in a second computer system cluster according to the rules. The rules can allow the first copy of the database or the second copy of the database to be the active copy if one or more criterion in the rules is met for that active copy. The first copy can be designated as the active copy and the second copy can be designated as a passive copy. A failure of the first copy can be detected, and in response, the second copy can be automatically designated as the active copy.

Active/passive database management across clusters

High availability architecture that employs a mid-tier proxy server to route client communications to active data store instances in response to failover and switchover. The proxy server includes an active manager client that interfaces to an active manager in each of the backend servers. State information and configuration information are maintained separately and according to semantics consistent with needs of corresponding data, the configuration information changing less frequently and more available, the state information changing more frequently and less available. The active manager indicates to the proxy server which of the data storage instances is the currently the active instance. In the event that the currently active instance is inactive, the proxy server selects a different backend server that currently hosts the active data store instance. Client communications are then routed to the different backend server with minimal or no interruption to the client.

Adding individual database failover/switchover to an existing storage component with limited impact

Techniques to leverage replication to provide rolling point in time backup are described. Some embodiments are directed to techniques to provide rolling point in time backup with simplified restoration through distributed transactional re-creation. In one embodiment, for example, a technique may comprise creating a plurality of availability copies of a primary set of data; designating at least one of the plurality of availability copies as a backup copy; creating a log file that indicates changes to the primary set of data; updating the plurality of availability copies from the log file in near real time, without updating the backup copy; and restoring at least one of: the primary set of data and an availability copy using the backup copy and content resubmitted from a content contributor when an error occurs in at least one of: the primary set of data and an availability copy. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Techniques for leveraging replication to provide rolling point in time backup with simplified restoration through distributed transactional re-creation

Growing community of inventors

Redmond, WA, United States of America

Yogesh Bansal