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USENIX Technical Program - Abstract - USENIX Annual
Conference, General Session - June 2000
Scalable Content-aware Request Distribution in Cluster-based Network
Servers
Mohit Aron, Darren Sanders, Peter Druschel, and Willy Zwaenepoel,
Rice University
Abstract
We present a scalable architecture for content-aware request
distribution in Web server clusters. In this architecture, a level-4
switch acts as the point of contact for the server on the Internet and
distributes the incoming requests to a number of back-end nodes. The
switch does not perform any content-based distribution. This function is
performed by each of the back-end nodes, which may forward the incoming
request to another back-end based on the requested content.
In terms of scalability, this architecture compares favorably to
existing approaches where a front-end node performs content-based
distribution. In our architecture, the expensive operations of TCP
connection establishment and handoff are distributed among the
back-ends, rather than being centralized in the front-end node. Only a
minimal additional latency penalty is paid for much improved
scalability.
We have implemented this new architecture, and we demonstrate its
superior scalability by comparing it to a system that performs
content-aware distribution in the front-end, both under synthetic and
trace-driven workloads.
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