MASTH proxy: an extensible platform for web overload control

ABSTRACT

Many overload control mechanisms for Web based applications aim to prevent overload by setting limits on factors such as admitted load, number of server threads, buffer size. For this they need online measurements of metrics such as response time, throughput, and resource utilization. This requires instrumentation of the server by modifying server code, which may not be feasible or desirable. An alternate approach is to use a proxy between the clients and servers.

We have developed a proxy-based overload control platform called MASTH Proxy--Multi-class Admission-controlled Self-Tuning HTTP Proxy. It records detailed measurements, supports multiple request classes, manages queues of HTTP requests, provides tunable parameters and enables easy implementation of dynamic overload control. This gives designers of overload control schemes a platform where they can concentrate on developing the core control logic, without the need to modify upstream server code.

REFERENCES

• 1: Tarek F. Abdelzaher , Kang G. Shin , Nina Bhatti, Performance Guarantees for Web Server End-Systems: A Control-Theoretical Approach, IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, v.13 n.1, p.80-96, January 2002 [doi>10.1109/71.980028]
• 2: Huamin Chen , Prasant Mohapatra, Overload control in QoS-aware web servers, Computer Networks: The International Journal of Computer and Telecommunications Networking, v.42 n.1, p.119-133, 15 May 2003 [doi>10.1016/S1389-1286(03)00178-6]
• 3: Ludmila Cherkasova , Peter Phaal, Session-Based Admission Control: A Mechanism for Peak Load Management of Commercial Web Sites, IEEE Transactions on Computers, v.51 n.6, p.669-685, June 2002 [doi>10.1109/TC.2002.1009151]
• 4: Sameh Elnikety , Erich Nahum , John Tracey , Willy Zwaenepoel, A method for transparent admission control and request scheduling in e-commerce web sites, Proceedings of the 13th international conference on World Wide Web, May 17-20, 2004, New York, NY, USA [doi>10.1145/988672.988710]

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
        D.2.13 Reusable Software
            Subjects: Reusable libraries

General Terms:
Experimentation, Measurement, Performance

Keywords:
admission control, multi-class, overload, proxy, web server