Resource command messages and methods

Abstract

Resource command messages comprise commands and command urgency or importance information that is interpreted by a resource device and is coupled with information relating to the resource device to determine when to process the command within the resource command message. Resource devices comprising a plurality of resource nodes provide increased performance, responsiveness, and load balancing by multiple resource nodes processing the same resource command message in parallel.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions within the computer-readable medium that, when executed, cause a network node to perform operations comprising:
 transmitting, in a first message, a first resource command message to a plurality of resource nodes over a network;   receiving responses to the first resource command message from the plurality of resource nodes over the network;   identifying a preferred provider from the plurality of resource nodes based on a fastest response of responses received from the plurality of resource nodes; and   transmitting, in a second message, a second resource command message and a command to the plurality of resource nodes indicating for the preferred provider to process the command.   
     
     
         2 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the second resource command message includes an indication to process the command with increased urgency. 
     
     
         3 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of resource nodes comprise a plurality of redundant resource nodes that manage duplicate resources. 
     
     
         4 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the first resource command message includes a command importance that indicates an absolute priority to process a command in the first resource command message. 
     
     
         5 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the first resource command message includes a command urgency that indicates an absolute time to process a command in the first resource command message. 
     
     
         6 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the network is a cloud network. 
     
     
         7 . A method comprising:
 transmitting, in a first message, a first resource command message to a plurality of resource nodes over a network;   receiving responses to the first resource command message from the plurality of resource nodes over the network;   identifying a preferred provider from the plurality of resource nodes based on a fastest response of responses received from the plurality of resource nodes; and   transmitting, in a second message, a second resource command message and a command to the plurality of resource nodes indicating for the preferred provider to process the command.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the second resource command message includes an indication to process the command with increased urgency. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the plurality of resource nodes comprise a plurality of redundant resource nodes that manage duplicate resources. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the first resource command message includes a command importance that indicates an absolute priority to process a command in the first resource command message. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the first resource command message includes a command urgency that indicates an absolute time to process a command in the first resource command message. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the network is a cloud network. 
     
     
         13 . A resource node, comprising:
 a memory configured to store a command queue and resource node data;   a processing unit configure to:
 transmit, in a first message, a first resource command message to a plurality of resource nodes over a network; 
 receive responses to the first resource command message from the plurality of resource nodes over the network; 
 identify a preferred provider from the plurality of resource nodes based on a fastest response of responses received from the plurality of resource nodes; and 
 transmit, in a second message, a second resource command message and a command to the plurality of resource nodes indicating for the preferred provider to process the command. 
   
     
     
         14 . The resource node of  claim 13 , wherein the second resource command message includes an indication to process the command with increased urgency. 
     
     
         15 . The resource node of  claim 13 , wherein the plurality of resource nodes comprise a plurality of redundant resource nodes that manage duplicate resources. 
     
     
         16 . The resource node of  claim 13 , wherein the first resource command message includes a command importance that indicates an absolute priority to process a command in the first resource command message. 
     
     
         17 . The resource node of  claim 13 , wherein the first resource command message includes a command urgency that indicates an absolute time to process a command in the first resource command message. 
     
     
         18 . The resource node of  claim 13 , wherein the network is a cloud network. 
     
     
         19 . The resource node of  claim 13 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to transmit a broadcast discovery message and receive a discovery response from a first resource node of the plurality of resource nodes. 
     
     
         20 . The resource node of  claim 19 , wherein the discovery response includes a name of the first resource node and the processing unit is further configured to determine, based at least in part on the name, an address to be used in sending communications to the first resource node over a communication path.