The present invention relates generally to the field of databases and more particularly to the monitoring of a set of database connections for inactivity in a multithreaded environment.
Currently, the monitoring of a set of database connections for inactivity in a multithreaded environment is done by submitting multiple get clock requests (i.e., time requests). These multiple get clock requests result in additional processing overhead since processing resources are consumed by each request. As a result, the processing overhead may be measurable when the multiple get clock requests are used in a high performance environment and therefore, may negatively impact performance.
Conversely, when switching to a shared counter architecture, the overhead of getting clock counters may be reduced since only a single thread is needed to obtain the current clock time. However, as the system approaches higher utilization, the accuracy of the result degrades which may result in early timeout of operations.
A processor-implemented method for implementing a shared counter architecture is provided. The method may include receiving, by a worker thread, an application request; recording, by a common timer thread, a shared timer value and acquiring, by the worker thread, the shared timer value. The method may further include recording, by the common timer thread, a shared calibration factor; acquiring, by the worker thread, a configuration value corresponding to the application request and generating, by the worker thread, a calibrated timeout interval for the application request based on the shared calibration factor, the shared timer value, and the configuration value. The method may further include registering, by the worker thread, the calibrated timeout interval for the application request on a current timeout list; determining, by the common timer thread, a timeout occurrence for the application request based on the registered calibrated timeout interval; and releasing resources based on the timeout occurrence.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings. The various features of the drawings are not to scale as the illustrations are for clarity in facilitating one skilled in the art in understanding the invention in conjunction with the detailed description. In the drawings:
Detailed embodiments of the claimed structures and methods are disclosed herein; however, it can be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely illustrative of the claimed structures and methods that may be embodied in various forms. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of this invention to those skilled in the art. In the description, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments.
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to the field databases and more particularly to the monitoring of a set of database connections for inactivity in a multithreaded environment. The following described exemplary embodiments provide a system, method and program product for implementing a shared counter architecture in combination with a calibrated timeout interval.
A thread of execution is the smallest sequence of programmed instructions that may be managed independently by an operating system scheduler. A thread is contained inside a process. Multiple threads can exist within the same process and share resources such as memory. On a single processor, multithreading generally occurs by the processor switching between different threads (i.e., multitasking). On a multiprocessor or multi-core system, threads may be concurrent, with every processor or core executing a separate thread simultaneously.
As previously described, the monitoring of a set of database connections for inactivity in a multi-threaded environment is currently done by submitting multiple get clock requests (i.e., time requests). These multiple get clock requests result in additional processing overhead since processing resources are consumed by each request. As a result, the processing overhead may be measurable when the multiple get clock requests are used in a high performance environment and therefore, may negatively impact performance.
One current method being utilized today is to switch to a shared counter architecture which may reduce overhead of getting clock counters since only a single thread is needed to obtain the current clock time. However, when the system approaches higher utilization, the accuracy of the result degrades which may result in early timeout of operations. Therefore, there exists a need for providing a shared counter architecture in combination with a calibrated timeout offset.
According to at least one embodiment of the present invention, a shared counter architecture may be implemented in combination with a calibrated timeout offset and as such, the performance gain of the shared counter architecture may be realized without sacrificing accuracy of the individual counter architecture.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
The following described exemplary embodiments provide a system, method and program product for implementing a shared counter architecture in combination with a calibrated timeout offset. Additionally, embodiments of the present invention may ensure the performance gain of the shared counter architecture is realized without sacrificing accuracy of the individual counter architecture.
According to at least one embodiment of the present invention, a shared counter architecture for combining clock access across multiple transactions is implemented. Embodiments of the present invention may act as a row manager (i.e., a middleware) between an application program and a database, such as DB2. When monitoring a set of database connections for inactivity in a multithreaded environment, the amount of time spent retrieving the current time for message timeout processing may become a measurable portion of the execution time. Therefore, to reduce the time spent retrieving the current time, a shared timer value may be created for all request threads to retrieve the time value from, while a single thread (i.e., a common timer thread) may update the shared timer value to match the current time.
Additionally, the single thread (i.e., the common timer thread) may also operate to detect whether a timeout has occurred. The common timer thread may be scheduled at regular intervals in order to check the current state. However, depending on the load of the system, the common timer thread may not be dispatched at regular intervals. As the load increases, the dispatch time may increase, resulting in a loss of accuracy for the saved current time. As such, to counteract this decrease in accuracy, the interval between dispatches of the common timer thread may be additionally stored as a calibrated offset (i.e., a shared calibration factor) to the timeout value that may be set by a system administrator or database administrator (i.e., the configuration value). The configuration value, along with the shared timer value and the shared calibration factor may be used to determine a calibrated timeout interval which may be registered on a current timeout list.
Referring to
The client computer 102 may communicate with database 112 running on server computer 114 via the communications network 110. The communications network 110 may include connections, such as wire, wireless communication links, or fiber optic cables. As will be discussed with reference to
As previously described, the client computer 102 may access database 112, running on server computer 114 via the communications network 110. For example, a user using an application program 108 running on a client computer 102 may connect via a communication network 110 to database 112 which may be running on server 114. Additionally, the row manager 116 may manage a common timer thread 124 and a worker thread 126. The row manager 116 running on server 114 may provide a shared counter architecture for combining clock access across multiple transactions and may act as a middleware between an application program 108 and a database 112 to reduce the amount of time spent retrieving the current time for message timeout processing. As such, a shared timer value 118 may be created for all request threads (i.e., worker thread 126) to retrieve the current time value from, while a single thread (i.e., common timer thread 124) may update the shared timer value 118 to match the current time. The worker thread 126 may retrieve the shared timer value 118 and apply the shared timer value to a shared calibration factor 120 and then the worker thread may apply the registered (i.e., current) timeout interval retrieved from the current timeout list 122 to determine a calibrated timeout factor. The calibrated timeout interval may then be registered on the current timeout list 122.
The row manager process is explained in more detail below with respect to
Referring now to
According to one implementation of the present embodiment, the row manager 116 (
At 202, the common timer thread 124 (
As previously stated, at least one worker thread 126 (
Next, at 222 the worker thread 126 (
Simultaneously, at 206, the common timer thread 124 (
If at 206, the common timer thread 124 (
Continuing with this example, the common timer thread 124 (
Then at 206, the common timer thread 124 (
Concurrently, if a new request comes in from another application (i.e., Application B), the worker thread 126 (
Continuing with the same example, the common timer thread 124 (
Next, at 208, the common timer thread 124 (
Continuing again with the same example, the common timer thread 124 (
Next, at 208, the common timer thread 124 (
For example purposes only, iterations 6-14 of the common timer thread 124 (
Data processing system 800, 900 is representative of any electronic device capable of executing machine-readable program instructions. Data processing system 800, 900 may be representative of a smart phone, a computer system, PDA, or other electronic devices. Examples of computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may represented by data processing system 800, 900 include, but are not limited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, network PCs, minicomputer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices.
User client computer 102 (
Each set of internal components 800a, b also includes a R/W drive or interface 832 to read from and write to one or more portable computer-readable tangible storage devices 936 such as a CD-ROM, DVD, memory stick, magnetic tape, magnetic disk, optical disk or semiconductor storage device. A software program 108 can be stored on one or more of the respective portable computer-readable tangible storage devices 936, read via the respective R/W drive or interface 832 and loaded into the respective hard drive 830.
Each set of internal components 800a, b also includes network adapters or interfaces 836 such as a TCP/IP adapter cards, wireless wi-fi interface cards, or 3G or 4G wireless interface cards or other wired or wireless communication links. A software program 108 in client computer 102 can be downloaded to client computer 102 from an external computer via a network (for example, the Internet, a local area network or other, wide area network) and respective network adapters or interfaces 836. From the network adapters or interfaces 836, the software program 108 in client computer 102 is loaded into the respective hard drive 830. The network may comprise copper wires, optical fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers.
Each of the sets of external components 900a, b can include a computer display monitor 920, a keyboard 930, and a computer mouse 934. External components 900a, b can also include touch screens, virtual keyboards, touch pads, pointing devices, and other human interface devices. Each of the sets of internal components 800a, b also includes device drivers 840 to interface to computer display monitor 920, keyboard 930 and computer mouse 934. The device drivers 840, R/W drive or interface 832 and network adapter or interface 836 comprise hardware and software (stored in storage device 830 and/or ROM 824).
Aspects of the present invention have been described with respect to block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus (system), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer instructions. These computer instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The aforementioned programs can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including low-level, high-level, object-oriented or non object-oriented languages, such as Java, Smalltalk, C, and C++. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet service provider). Alternatively, the functions of the aforementioned programs can be implemented in whole or in part by computer circuits and other hardware (not shown).
The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 13973294 | Aug 2013 | US |
Child | 15016830 | US |