Method and apparatus for classifying Java remote method invocation transport traffic
View Patent ↗A data communication network for DiffServ communications includes a customized Java socket factory added to clients connected to a data communication network having a DiffServ-enabled edge router. When an application running on a client system wishes to make a remote procedure call to a remote server system on another network, it makes a call to an RMI stub which invokes an RMI transport layer having the custom socket factory to generate a socket used in the RMI call. The custom socket factory detects when a high priority RMI call is being made and can determine the identity of the calling procedure as well. The socket factory makes a side channel communication to the edge router to provide this information to the edge router, which then makes use of this data when performing DiffServ classification for packets transmitted during the course of the call.
1. A method for classifying a remote method invocation (RMI) from a client system that initiates connections to a remote server object via a classifying router using a client and underlying remote method invocation transport code, the method comprising:
detecting when a connection to the classifying router for the remote method invocation is to be created on a communication channel, detecting includes providing a stub to calling applications, detecting when applications call the stub, and executing an RMI routine based on a call by an application;
using a custom socket factory to obtain flow information associated with the detected connection to the classifying router, and to generate a socket therefore, the socket having a socket number associated therewith;
using a side channel, different from the communication channel, to communicate flow information to the classifying router for assigning to the flow a quality of service level, the flow information including the socket number, associated with the detected connection to the classifying router prior to remote method invocation; and
incorporating this flow information into a differentiated services classification subsystem of the classifying router by mapping the socket number to the quality of service level associated with the remote invocation to enable proper classification of the remote method invocation when it is later received.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the side channel is implemented as a servlet.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein incorporating includes:
using the flow information to determine a differentiated services classification for the connection; and
marking traffic delivered to the connection by the classifying router based on the classification.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting an identity of the client making the remote method invocation, the flow information further containing this detected identity, and wherein the quality of service is related to the detected identity.
5. An apparatus for classifying a remote method invocation (RMI) from a client system that initiates connections to a remote server object via a classifying router using a client and underlying remote method invocation transport code, the apparatus comprising:
a module configured to detect when a connection to the classifying router for the remote method invocation is to be created, to provide a stub to calling applications, to detect when applications call the stub, and to execute an RMI routine based on a call by an application;
a module configured to use a custom socket factory to obtain flow information associated with the detected connection to the classifying router, and to generate a socket therefore, the socket having a socket number associated therewith;
a module configured to use a side channel to communicate flow information to the classifying router for assigning to the flow a quality of service level, the flow information including the socket number, associated with the detected connection to the classifying router prior to establishment of the connection; and
a module configured to incorporate this flow information into a differentiated services classification subsystem of the classifying router by mapping the flow information to the quality of service level to enable proper classification of the remote invocation method when the remote method invocation is later invoked.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the side channel is implemented as a servlet.
7. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the incorporating module is further configured to:
use the flow information to determine a differentiated services classification for the connection; and
mark traffic delivered to the connection by the classifying router based on the classification.
8. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the side channel module is further configured to detect a identity of the client making the RMI call, the flow information further containing this detected identity.