Patent ID: 6718481
Filing Date: 2004-04-06
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
A shared system resource for use in a networked system to provide services to a plurality of clients communicating with the system resource through a network, comprising:a plurality of domains structured as an integrated, cooperative cluster of domains including hierarchically related domains and peer related domains, each domain performing one or more functions supporting the services provided by the system resource, wherein hierarchically related domains include a higher level domain and a lower level domain respectively performing higher and lower level operations of one or more related functions supporting the services provided by the system resource, peer related domains include parallel domains performing related operations in mutual support of one or more related functions supporting the services provided by the system resource, and certain domains including fault handling mechanisms operating independently of and cooperatively with fault handling mechanisms of other domains, wherein in a pair of hierarchically related domains, the lower level domain includes peer related domains performing related operations in mutual support of related functions of the upper level domain, wherein â€ƒeach domain of the peer related domains includes â€ƒa monitoring mechanism for performing a monitoring operation with another peer domain wherein the monitoring operation is related to the operations performed by the other peer domain in support of the functions of the upper level domain, wherein â€ƒeach monitoring mechanism is responsive to detection of a failure in the other peer domain for directing the peer domain in which the monitoring mechanism resides in assuming the operations performed by the peer domain in support of related functions of the upper level domain independently of operations of the peer domain and independently of a source of the failure in the other peer domain.