Patent Document

BACKGROUND 
   1. Field of the Present Invention 
   The present invention generally relates to the field of data processing networks. More particularly, the invention relates to a network and method for improving response time in server networks that use Network Attached Storage (NAS). 
   2. History of Related Art 
   In the field of network computing, networked storage including network attached storage (NAS) devices are well known. A NAS device is connected to a network, such as an Ethernet local area network (LAN), in the same manner as network servers and other computing devices are connected. Each NAS device is associated with a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address on the network. IP provides the basic communication protocol for a wide variety of computer networks including the Internet. IP is more fully documented in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comment (RFC)  791 , which is incorporated by reference herein. Servers and NAS devices may use the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) to communicate among themselves. The TCP protocol is usually layered on top of the IP protocol. Independently, clients and servers also may use the TCP protocol to communicate. The TCP protocol is more fully documented in Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comment (RFC)  793 . 
   As a network entity, the NAS device is equally accessible from any computing device on the network thereby greatly increasing the ability to scale and optimize the storage needs of the network. Specifically, NAS devices allow the decomposition of server networks to storage-only components and diskless server components. This decomposition offers tremendous advantages to system administrators, including ease of deployment, system management, and enhanced scalability and reliability. 
   The flexibility offered by networked storage devices has changed the manner in which server networks are implemented. For instance, it is increasingly common to encounter web-based services being handled by one or more server devices, possibly diskless, that use a common set of networked storage boxes including NAS devices. 
   The widespread use of NAS devices can result, unfortunately, in additional and unwanted network traffic. Because NAS devices reside on the same network as the network servers, storage traffic (i.e., traffic between a server and a NAS device) travels over the same network and therefore competes with client-server traffic (including client requests to servers for files and the corresponding responses). The storage traffic on the server network reduces the bandwidth available for client-server traffic thereby potentially limiting overall network response and performance. 
     FIG. 1  presents a conceptual illustration of the process by which a client request for a file (or other form of data) may be serviced. Initially, a client  102  generates a request for data from a particular server  110 . The request is transmitted to server  110  as a set of one or more network datagrams or packets  121  according to the TCP/IP protocol. The first packet  121  includes a destination address field containing the address of server  110  and a source address field containing the address of client  102 . Both of the addresses are typically in IP compliant format. 
   For a variety of reasons, server  110  may not have a copy of the requested file available locally either in its system (volatile) memory or on disk (non-volatile) storage (if a local disk exists). When this occurs, server  110  may retrieve the file from a NAS device  112  by generating a second packet  122  having server  110  as the source address and NAS device  112  as the destination address. Packet  122  conforms to the TCP protocol. NAS device  112  will receive second packet  122 , retrieve the requested file, and respond to the request from server  110  with a third packet  123  having NAS device  112  as the source address and server  110  as the destination address. Packet  123  also conforms to the TCP protocol. After receiving the requested files from NAS device  112 , server  110  may then finally respond to the client request by generating a fourth packet  124  according to the TCP protocol, having server  110  as the source and client  102  as the destination and containing the originally requested file data. 
   It will be appreciated by those in the field of networked computing that the process described above undesirably results in extra network traffic. The four packets that are required to service the request must all travel over the server network. In addition, the generation and reception of each packet requires potentially significant network processing on the part of their respective senders and receivers. Each packet must be formatted according to the TCP/IP network protocol. Each server and client on the network contains code that formats requests and responses for travel over the network. Each packet sent over the network must descend a protocol stack at the source and ascend a stack at the destination. 
   In the example described above, a single client request resulted in the transmission of four sets of packets, each of which must traverse a protocol stack twice. In a traditional network where NAS boxes are not used (the disks reside locally at the server), only two such packets would have been necessary. It should be apparent that a potentially significant amount of network processing has occurred in satisfying the client request in a NAS-based environment. It would be beneficial to employ a server network and method that reduced the amount of network traffic and network processing that accompanies a client request to a server network employing networked storage. It would be further desirable if the implemented solution complied, to the extent possible, with existing protocols and networks. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The problems identified above are in large part addressed by a network and method for responding to client requests. The network includes a server network or server cluster that includes one or more server devices and one or more NAS devices on a local area network. The local area network includes the ability to perform multicasting, which can transfer the network packets unreliably to one or more recipients. Having a broadcast network such as an Ethernet cable or a Token ring cable can provide this ability. Alternatively, a local area network switch can forward a packet from its sender to several recipients in a switched network configuration. The multicasting occurs at a level lower than the IP layer, e.g., at the Ethernet layer, or the link level, or layer  2  in the Open System Internetworking (OSI) reference model and is not required to be reliable. 
   The local area network may be connected to a wider network, such as the Internet, through a suitable gateway (usually different from the local area network switch). A client issues a request to a server in the server network, either by sending a request over the local area network if the client resides on the same network, or through the gateway if the client accesses the server across the wide area network. Upon receiving the request, the server determines if the data is available in the local cache. If the data is locally available, the server responds with the required files. If the data is not available, the server must retrieve all or a portion of the requested data from a NAS device. 
   The server may generate a request to the NAS device that identifies the requested file or data. The request also includes the client&#39;s IP address and sufficient information to recreate the protocol stack that belongs to the connection between the client and server. When the NAS device receives the request from the server, it retrieves the requested data as commonly done in the art. It also replicates the protocol stack that belongs to the connection between the client and server. It then generates a response using TCP/IP packets containing the requested file. The packets belonging to the response use the IP address of the server as a sender, and use a special multicast address at the data link layer. If the client resides on the local area network, then the data-link multicast address is designed to reach the client and server. Otherwise, if the client accesses the server through a wide area network, then the multicast address is designed to reach the server and the gateway that connects the local area network to the rest of the network. In the latter case, the gateway processes the packets in the conventional way and forwards them to the client. In both cases, the client receives the data, and the source address that it perceives is that of the server, not the NAS device (the client is not aware of the existence of the NAS device). 
   In either case, the server receives the packets that were sent from the NAS device to the client with a high probability of success. This will help the server catch the data going to the client and insert it in the local cache. This way, future requests of the data will be served out of the server&#39;s cache without having to involve the NAS device. Further requests by the client for closing the connection are handled by the server, but if the client requests the retransmission of some TCP packets, the server forwards such requests to the NAS device which retransmits the required TCP packets in the same manner as described previously. The NAS device uses a timeout mechanism to reclaim the resources used for the replica of the protocol stack that belongs to the connection between the client and server. The time-out should be chosen to exceed the time out for the connection between the server and clients by a safe margin, as engineering considerations may require. 
   There is no guarantee that the server will perceive the response of the NAS device to the client. This could happen because of network failures, buffer overflow at the receiver, or if the packets are corrupted. There is no harm that could occur in this case. The only disadvantage is that the server cannot place the response in its local cache, and thus future requests for this data item will be handled as described above. 
   The advantage of this method is that it reduces the latency of generating the response to the client. In a conventional system, the response has to traverse the protocol stack twice at the server before the actual response is generated. Under the current invention, the response is generated from the NAS device, carrying the IP address of the server as a sender, and using probabilistic multicasting to reduce the overhead of refreshing the server&#39;s cache. This reduces network overhead associated with the use of NAS devices. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a conceptual representation a client-server transaction according to the prior art; 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of selected elements of a data processing network according to one embodiment of the present invention; and 
     FIG  3  is a flow diagram of a method of handling client request in a NAS-based server network according to one embodiment of the invention. 
   

   While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description presented herein are not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiment disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. 
   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Turning now to the drawings,  FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating selected features of a data processing network  200  according to one embodiment of the present invention. In the depicted embodiment, a server network  206  includes one or more server devices  210  and a NAS device  212  connected via a local area network (LAN) represented by reference numeral  211 . LAN  211  may be implemented with a shared medium such as in an Ethernet or token ring network, or as a switched (point-to-point) network in which the server(s)  210  and NAS device(s) are connected to a switch capable of providing a dedicated path between pairs of devices on the network. In either embodiment, the selected implementation of LAN  211  includes multicasting capability in which packets are transmitted to multiple recipients. Shared medium implementations of LAN  211  such as Ethernet and token ring LANs provide multicast capability inherently. In a switched network, the network switch can be configured to forward a packet from its sender to multiple recipients on the network. 
   The multicasting of network packets occurs at a low level of the network protocol. In an implementation where LAN  211  is a TCP/IP compliant Ethernet network, for example, the multicasting of packets may occur at the media access control (MAC) level. More generally, the multicasting is accomplished at the data link layer (layer  2 ) in the 7-layer network reference model circulated by the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) working group of the International Standards Organization (ISO). It will be appreciated by those knowledgeable in the field of networked computing that message delivery reliability is not typically addressed at this level. An invention that employs low level multicasting must insure, therefore, that the network is sufficiently robust to continue operating in the event that a multicast message does not ultimately reach one or more of its intended targets. 
   Network  200  further includes at least one client  202  connected to a server  210  in server network  206 . Client  202  typically includes a client application program such as a web browser executing on a client device such as a desktop or laptop personal computer, a network (diskless) computer or workstation, an Internet enabled personal data administrator (PDA) or telephone, or any other suitable network enabled device. Regardless of its specific implementation, client  202  is configured to generate, format, and send information requests to server network  206 . 
   In one configuration, client  202  is connected to server network  206  via a wide area network (WAN)  201 . WAN  201  is typically comprised of multiple switches, routers, gateways, and the like and may include one or more sub-networks similar to server network  206 . In an embodiment where WAN  201  represents the Internet, devices on network  201  and the network packets that they transmit are compliant with the Transmission Communication Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite of protocols described in detail in IETF RFC&#39;s  791  and  793 . In another embodiment, client  202  may reside on the LAN  211  of which the server  210  and NAS device  211  are a part. LAN  211  is typically a TCP/IP network itself. The use of a common reference numeral to refer to the client connected via the WAN and the client connected directly to the server network is intended to convey that, except for their locations, the two clients  202  may be substantially the same in form and function. 
   In the depicted embodiment, a gateway  208  connects server network  206  to WAN  201 . As indicated previously, server network  206  employs networked storage in the form of one or more NAS devices  212 . Each NAS device  212  is connected to LAN  211  in the same manner as the server device(s)  210 . In an Ethernet embodiment of LAN  211 , each server network device includes a suitable Ethernet network interface (not explicitly depicted), each with its own MAC address. 
   Portions of the present invention may be implemented as a set of computer executable instructions (software) stored on or contained in a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may comprise a volatile medium such as the system memory (DRAM) or cache memory (SRAM) of server  210  or NAS device  212  or a non-volatile medium such as a floppy diskette, hard disk, flash memory card, ROM, CD ROM, DVD, magnetic tape, or another suitable medium. 
   Referring to  FIG. 3 , a flow diagram illustrating a method  300  of handling client requests in a data processing network, such as the data processing network depicted in  FIG. 2 , according to one embodiment of the invention is presented. Initially a client request for information such as a file is received (block  302 ) by a network server  210  on server network  206 . The client request may be received from a client  202  connected to server network  206  through an intervening WAN  201  such as the Internet and a gateway  208  that connects server network  206 . Alternatively, the client request may originate with a client  202  connected to LAN  211 . 
   The client request typically opens a client-server connection according to the protocol employed by network  200 . In a TCP/IP compliant network, the client request opens a TCP connection with server  210 . The client request may specifically target server  210  or the request may be routed to a particular server  210  by a switch or other arbitrating device in a network cluster configuration. 
   Upon receiving the request for information, server  210  identifies the information requested and determines (block  304 ) whether a current copy of the requested information is in the server&#39;s cache (non-volatile memory). If the requested data is current in the server&#39;s cache, server  210  satisfies (block  306 ) the request in the conventional manner from the data in its cache. 
   If server  210  determines that the data is not in its cache (and is not in any non-volatile or disk storage that server  210  may have), it sends a request, referred to herein as a storage request or NAS request, in block  308  to retrieve the data from the NAS device  212  where the data requested by client is located. The NAS request is a network compliant request. Server  210  includes the IP address of client  202  in the NAS request and information about the network connection (the TCP connection) between client  202  and server  210 . This information in the NAS request will enable NAS device  212  to send the requested data to client  202 . 
   Upon receiving the request for information from server  210 , NAS device  212  retrieves (block  310 ) the requested information from its disk storage. In addition, NAS device  212  uses the protocol information provided in the request from server  210  to replicate (block  312 ) the protocol stack that corresponds to the connection between client  202  and server  210 . Using the retrieved data and the replicated protocol stack, NAS device  212  may then generate (block  314 ) a set of one or more network compliant packets that are responsive to the initial client request. 
   The packets generated by NAS device  212  include the IP address of client  202  as the target address and the IP address of server  210  as the source address. The protocol stack of the NAS generated packets would further include the client-server TCP connection information such that client  202  would receive the packets unaware of the existence of NAS device  212 . 
   In addition, NAS device  212  would include a multicast address at a low level of the protocol stack, such as the data link layer. The multicast address used would be one of a set of multicast addresses defined statically as part of the configuration of server network  206 . This low level data link layer would cause the packets generated by NAS device  212  to be forwarded (block  316 ) to multiple destinations, also referred as multicasting. In an embodiment where client  202  is directly connected to LAN  211 , the multicast address would cause the generated packets to be sent to the client  202  and to the server  210 . In an embodiment where client  202  is connected through an intervening WAN  201  and gateway  208 , this multicasting would cause the generated packets to be forwarded to gateway  208  and server  210 . The gateway  208  would forward these packets to client  202  in the conventional manner. 
   Because the data link layer in a network protocol does not address delivery reliability, there is no guarantee that the multicast recipients receive the generated packets. In contrast, the use of the client&#39;s IP address as the destination address and the client-server TCP connection protocol stack information in the generated packets does provide for the reliable transfer of the packets to client  202 . Thus, the network devices will not be informed if server  210  fails to receive the generated packets from NAS device  212  using the multicast address. 
   If the server  210  does receive the packets transmitted by NAS device  212 , the server updates its cache to include the information requested by client  202 . In one embodiment, the protocol stack of server  210  modifies the destination address and port of these packets before delivering them to IP layer processing to ensure that the packets are accepted and delivered to the cache management component of server  210 . If the packets do not arrive successfully, the network  200  remains fully functional, but the process of retrieving data from NAS device  212  will have to be repeated on a subsequent client request for the same information. If client  202  does not receive the generated packets from NAS device  212 , client  202  will eventually request a retransmission of the data from the server. This retransmission request will be handled by server  210  and NAS device  212  in a manner similar to the manner in which server  210  and NAS device  212  responded to the original storage request. When client  202  issues a request to close the TCP connection, however, server  210  handles the request. 
   NAS device  212  must dedicate resources for replicating the TCP/IP protocol stack of a particular client-server connection. In one embodiment, NAS device  212  includes a time-out mechanism to reclaim the memory used for this replication. When resources dedicated for TCP/IP client-server connections exceed a pre-determined age, the resources are re-claimed. 
   The predetermined age limit is preferably set well greater than the time-out limit of the client-server connection itself. 
   It will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure that the present invention reduces the latency of generating the response to the client using a multicast response. By preventing the response from traversing the server protocol stack twice, response performance is enhanced and traffic on LAN  211  is reduced. It is understood that the form of the invention shown and described in the detailed description and the drawings are to be taken merely as presently preferred examples. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted broadly to embrace all the variations of the preferred embodiments disclosed.

Technology Category: 5