Abstract: A method, a cluster system, and a computer-readable medium for distributing data packets addressed to at least one virtual address over a communication network using a protocol, which allows for at least some content of the data packet to be encrypted, to a multiplicity of service nodes. The method includes receiving incoming data packets addressed to a virtual address through a packet analyzer and identifying whether the incoming data packets are encrypted. Each encryption data packet is forwarded to a decryption module and a decrypted data packet is returned. Based on the decrypted data packet, a scheduling decision is made by a scheduling module. Scheduling data is then combined with the originally received encrypted data packet such that the encrypted data packet can be forwarded to one service node for further processing.

Abstract: In a cluster system comprising at least two nodes connected via a communication network and having a name and a host weight assigned to it, a method is implemented comprising the steps of inspecting the communication link, determining which node has to be shut down after a failure, creating an advertisement report for the node to be shut down, sending the advertisement report to at least one node of the cluster system, calculating a delay time depending on the weight of the first node and sending the shut down command to the node for which a failure report was received. In one embodiment of the invention the advertisement reports include a master node, which allows identifying and specifying the surviving subcluster. The method will send shut down signals to those nodes of a subcluster with lower weight than the surviving subcluster. A failsafe mechanism is implemented.

Abstract: A method for provisioning servers in a computer arrangement allows more than one administrator to utilize the servers and prevents the servers from being influenced by more than one administrator at the same time. The computer arrangement includes at least one server, at least one administrator operable to control the usage of the servers by making provisioning decisions, and a deployment server operable to provision the servers according to the provisioning decisions of the administrators. An administrator is required to exclusively reserve the server before the administration unit can use the server. This prevents the server from being used by two or more interfering administrators, meanwhile allowing a flexible assignment between servers and administrators.

Abstract: A computer arrangement for providing services to clients over a network includes: at least two servers, each server hosting at least one application, an automated administrator configured to automatically provision the servers to provide the services, and at least one network load balancer connected to the clients and the servers. The network load balancer is responsible for at least one of the services and is configured to gather state information on the state of the servers and/or the applications hosted on the servers and is operable to route incoming requests of clients to at least one of the servers. The network load balancer provides the automated administrator with the state information. The automated administrator provides the network load balancer with provisioning information regarding which servers are provisioned to provide the at least one service for which the network load balancer is responsible.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for distributing a data packet sent by a computer via a connection line to a cluster system. The data packet comprises a UDP packet and an identification of the computer the data packet was sent from. After the data packet is received by an at least one second node the identification within said data packet is extracted. It will then be checked whether a data packet comprising the same identification has been previously received and forwarded to one of at least two first nodes. If that check is positive, the data packet is forwarded to one of those at least two first nodes. Otherwise, a new node is selected and the data packet is forwarded to that selected node for data processing. This allows high availability against failovers and also load balancing for UDP connections.

Abstract: An apparatus and a method for controlling the delivery of an event message of an event in a cluster system is provided. The apparatus delivers a received event message to the receivers registered for the event message in a specific order. The specific order is determined by a sequence number which is assigned to each of the receivers. Exchanging the sequence number between different nodes in a cluster enables delivery of the event in a specific order on a cluster-wide basis. Errors due to wrong event delivery are thereby prevented.

Abstract: In a cluster system comprising at least two nodes connected via a communication network and having a name and a host weight assigned to it, a method is implemented comprising the steps of inspecting the communication link, determining which node has to be shut down after a failure, creating an advertisement report for the node to be shut down, sending the advertisement report to at least one node of the cluster system, calculating a delay time depending on the weight of the first node and sending the shut down command to the node for which a failure report was received. In one embodiment of the invention the advertisement reports include a master node, which allows identifying and specifying the surviving subcluster. The method will send shut down signals to those nodes of a subcluster with lower weight than the surviving subcluster. A failsafe mechanism is implemented.