Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-15
2003-08-19
Homere, Jean R. (Department: 2177)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C707S793000, C707S793000, C709S219000, C709S229000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06609126
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer databases and more particularly to a system and method for routing database requests from application logic to a cache and a database.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Many computer applications today utilize a database to store, retrieve, and manipulate information. Simply put, a database refers to a collection of information organized in such a way that a computer program can quickly select desired pieces of data. For example, an individual might use a database to store contact information from their rolodex, such as names, addresses, and phone numbers, whereas a business entity might store information tracking inventory or customer orders.
Databases include the hardware that physically stores the data, and the software that utilizes the hardware's file system to store the data and provide a standardized method for retrieving or changing the data. A database management system (DBMS) provides access to information in a database. This is a collection of programs that enables a user to enter, organize, and select data in a database. The DBMS accepts requests for data (referred to herein as database requests) from an application program and instructs the operating system to transfer the appropriate data. Database requests can include, for example, read-only requests for database information (referred to herein as informational database requests) and requests to modify database information (referred to herein as transactional database requests). With respect to hardware, database machines are often specially designed computers that store the actual databases and run the DBMS and related software.
FIG. 3A
depicts a conventional database configuration
300
A, wherein a computer application
102
accesses information stored in a database
104
having a DBMS
120
. Application
102
includes application logic
110
and a database driver
114
. Application
102
and database
104
interact in a client/server relationship, where application
102
is the client and database
104
is the server. Application logic
110
establishes a connection
310
to DBMS
120
using database driver
114
. Database driver
114
provides an Application Programming Interface (API) that allows application logic
110
to communicate with database
104
using function calls included in the API. Conventional database drivers
114
typically handle communication between a client (e.g., application logic
110
) and a single database server, or possibly between multiple servers of the same basic type. Many conventional database drivers
114
make use of a proprietary client/server communication protocol (shown as line
310
in FIG.
3
A).
The performance of the conventional client/server database design depicted in
FIG. 3A
can be improved with the addition of a cache.
FIG. 3B
depicts a second conventional database configuration
300
B wherein a cache
106
is inserted between application
102
and database
104
. This configuration is referred to herein as an inline cache. Application logic
110
uses a cache driver
302
to establish a connection with cache
106
. Cache
106
provides rapid access to a subset of the database information stored in database
104
, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Cache
106
establishes a connection
314
with DBMS
120
using database driver
114
, where the driver can be integrated within the cache.
All database requests from application logic
110
are routed first to cache
106
. Cache
106
may handle requests differently depending on the type of operation requested and whether the target data is stored in cache
106
. For example, informational database requests can be handled by cache
106
without going to database
104
, so long as the information that is the target of the request (i.e., the target data) in stored in cache
106
. Since the response time of cache
106
is significantly faster than that of database
104
, performance is increased as the percentage of information database requests grows in relation to the total number of database requests.
Transactional database requests are performed in both cache
106
and database
104
. Consistency between cache
106
and database
104
is maintained because transactional requests are performed on the database information stored in both locations. As a result, application logic
110
can only utilize those transactional requests that are understood by both cache
106
and database
104
for consistency to be maintained. For example, if application logic
110
issued a transactional request that was understood by database
104
but not by cache
106
, the information would be changed in database
104
but not in cache
106
, and the two would no longer be consistent. Therefore, only those requests for which database
104
and cache
106
share a common vocabulary are supported in this configuration.
Many database manufacturers provide for the execution of stored procedures within database
104
which can increase flexibility and performance. The implementation of these database-side capabilities may be proprietary to the database manufacturer. Third party manufacturers of inline caches may not have access to this proprietary information, and may therefore be unable to implement corresponding capabilities within the cache. As a result, consistency cannot be maintained between cache
106
and database
104
in inline cache configuration
300
B if application logic
110
is allowed to utilize these database-side capabilities. This limitation forces software vendors to re-code their applications
102
, eliminating any calls to database-side capabilities in favor of those operations within the vocabulary common to both cache and database.
Also, while the addition of the inline cache results in some performance improvement for the processing of informational requests, performance can degrade for the processing of transactional requests. The client generating the request must wait until the inline cache commits the changes to both the cache and the database. Adding the inline cache can therefore increase the amount of time the client must wait when processing transactional requests as compared to a database configuration without a cache (
300
A). Further, the requirement that the inline cache be inserted between the client and server and receive all database requests limits the flexibility of the inline configuration. For example, some application logic
110
cannot easily be modified to allow for the insertion of the inline cache.
Finally, the fault tolerance of the inline cache configuration depends upon the fault tolerance of the inline cache. Failure of the inline cache will result in database
104
being cut off from its clients, since all client request must pass through the failed cache
106
.
What is needed is an improved system and method for routing database requests from application logic to a cache and a database that is both flexible and fault-tolerant, wherein transactional requests are handled efficiently and the application logic is able to take advantage of proprietary database mechanisms and/or database-side execution capabilities.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a system and method for routing database requests from application logic to a cache and a database, including receiving a database request from the application logic, determining whether the request is informational or transactional, routing the request to the cache if the database request is informational, and routing the request to the database if the request is transactional.
A first example embodiment of the present invention includes a database which is accessed using a first driver, a cache, and a second driver which determines whether database requests received from application logic are informational or transactional, where informational requests are routed to the cache and transactional requests are routed to the database using the first driver.
An advantage of the present invention is that transactional
Conley Paul Alan
Smith Erik Richard
Appfluent Technology, Inc.
Cooley & Godward LLP
Homere Jean R.
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