The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 23, 2003
Filed:
Jan. 10, 2000
Sohrab F. Modi, Oakland, CA (US);
Sankar Ramamoorthi, San Jose, CA (US);
Mahalingam Mani, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Brian M. Oki, San Jose, CA (US);
Kevin C. Fox, San Jose, CA (US);
Hariprasad B. Mankude, Fremont, CA (US);
Sun Microsystems, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that uses a packet distribution table to distribute packets to server nodes in a cluster of nodes that operate in concert to provide at least one service. The system operates by receiving a packet at an interface node in the cluster of nodes. This packet includes a source address specifying a location of a client that the packet originated from, and a destination address specifying a service provided by the cluster of nodes (and possibly a protocol). The system uses the destination address to lookup a packet distribution table. The system then performs a function that maps the source address to an entry in the packet distribution table, and retrieves an identifier specifying a server node from the entry in the packet distribution table. Next, the system forwards the packet to the server node specified by the identifier so that the server node can perform a service for the client. In this way, packets directed to a service specified by a single destination address are distributed across multiple server nodes in a manner specified by the packet distribution table. In one embodiment of the present invention, the system allows the server node to send return communications directly back to the client without forwarding the communications through the interface node. In one embodiment of the present invention, the function includes a hash function that maps different source addresses to different entries in the packet distribution table in a substantially random manner. Note that this hash function always maps a given source address to the same entry in the packet distribution table.