NettySmartRouter

A high-performance HTTP router built with Netty and Spring Framework, designed for intelligent content-based request routing and load balancing.

Overview

NettySmartRouter is a lightweight, high-performance HTTP router that provides intelligent request routing capabilities based on content matching and advanced load balancing. It uses Netty for high-performance I/O operations and Spring Framework for configuration management and dependency injection.

Features

• High Performance: Built on Netty 4.1.0 for excellent I/O performance
• Intelligent Routing: Content-based request routing with keyword matching
• Load Balancing: Multiple load balancing strategies (Round Robin, Random, Weighted Round Robin)
• Spring Integration: Full Spring Framework integration for configuration management
• Configurable: Flexible configuration through properties files
• Asynchronous Processing: Non-blocking request processing for better throughput
• Health Check Support: Optional health checking for backend servers

Architecture

The router consists of several key components:

• GatewayServer: Main server class that initializes the Netty server
• GatewayServerHandler: Core request handler that processes HTTP requests with load balancing
• LoadBalancer: Load balancing engine with multiple strategies
• RoutingLoader: Spring-based configuration loader for routing rules
• HttpClientUtils: HTTP client utility for forwarding requests to backend services

Dependencies

• Java 6+
• Netty 4.1.0.Final
• Spring Framework 4.1.1.RELEASE
• Maven 3.3+

Quick Start

1. Build the Project

mvn clean package

2. Run the Router

java -jar target/NettyGateway-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar

The router will start on port 8999 by default.

3. Configuration

Router Configuration (netty-gateway.xml)

Configure server settings and load balancing:

<bean id="options" class="com.newlandframework.gateway.commons.GatewayOptions">
    <property name="gatewayPort" value="8999"/>
    <!-- Load balance configuration -->
    <property name="loadBalanceEnabled" value="true"/>
    <property name="loadBalanceStrategy" value="roundRobin"/>
    <property name="healthCheckEnabled" value="false"/>
    <property name="healthCheckInterval" value="30000"/>
</bean>

Gateway Configuration (netty-gateway.properties)

Configure default routing rules with load balancing support:

# Router configuration format:
# netty-gateway.configX.serverPath ==> URL path keyword
# netty-gateway.configX.defaultAddr ==> Default forwarding URL (supports multiple servers comma-separated)

# Example with load balancing (multiple servers)
netty-gateway.config1.serverPath=fcgi-bin/UIG_SFC_186
netty-gateway.config1.defaultAddr=http://10.46.158.10:8088/fcgi-bin/UIG_SFC_186,http://10.46.158.11:8088/fcgi-bin/UIG_SFC_186,http://10.46.158.12:8088/fcgi-bin/UIG_SFC_186

# Single server (no load balancing)
netty-gateway.config2.serverPath=api/health
netty-gateway.config2.defaultAddr=http://10.46.158.10:8090/api/health

Route Configuration (netty-route.properties)

Configure specific routing rules with keyword matching and load balancing:

# Route configuration format:
# netty-gateway.configX.serverPath ==> URL path keyword
# netty-gateway.configX.keyWord ==> Content matching keywords (supports 1~N keywords, separated by commas, AND logic)
# netty-gateway.configX.matchAddr ==> Target URL when keywords match successfully (supports multiple servers comma-separated)

# Example with load balancing
netty-gateway.config1.serverPath=fcgi-bin/UIG_SFC_186
netty-gateway.config1.keyWord=1,2,3
netty-gateway.config1.matchAddr=http://10.46.158.20:8088/fcgi-bin/UIG_SFC_186,http://10.46.158.21:8088/fcgi-bin/UIG_SFC_186

Load Balance Configuration (netty-loadbalance.properties)

Configure load balancing behavior:

# Load balance configuration
gateway.loadBalance.enabled=true
gateway.loadBalance.strategy=roundRobin

# Health check configuration
gateway.loadBalance.healthCheck.enabled=false
gateway.loadBalance.healthCheck.interval=30000

Load Balancing

Supported Strategies

1. Round Robin: Distributes requests evenly across all available servers
2. Random: Randomly selects a server from the available server list
3. Weighted Round Robin: Distributes requests based on server weights (planned)

Configuration

Load balancing is automatically applied when multiple servers are specified in the configuration (comma-separated addresses). Single server configurations bypass load balancing.

Example Usage

# Multiple servers - load balancing applied
netty-gateway.config1.defaultAddr=http://server1:8080/api,http://server2:8080/api,http://server3:8080/api

# Single server - no load balancing
netty-gateway.config2.defaultAddr=http://server1:8080/api

How It Works

1. Request Reception: The router receives HTTP requests on the configured port
2. Path Matching: The router matches the request URI against configured server paths
3. Content Analysis: For matched paths, the router analyzes request content for keyword matches
4. Load Balancing: If multiple servers are configured, applies load balancing strategy
5. Route Selection:
   • If keywords match, forward to the specific target address (with load balancing)
   • If no keywords match, forward to the default address (with load balancing)
   • If no path matches, return localhost response
6. Request Forwarding: The router forwards the request to the selected backend service
7. Response Handling: The response from the backend is returned to the client

Configuration Options

Gateway Options

• gatewayPort: Port number for the router server (default: 8999)
• loadBalanceEnabled: Enable/disable load balancing (default: true)
• loadBalanceStrategy: Load balancing strategy (default: roundRobin)
• healthCheckEnabled: Enable health checking (default: false)
• healthCheckInterval: Health check interval in milliseconds (default: 30000)

Load Balancing Strategies

• roundRobin: Round robin distribution
• random: Random server selection
• weightedRoundRobin: Weighted round robin (planned)

Routing Rules

The router supports two types of routing rules:

1. Default Routes: Defined in netty-gateway.properties

   • Matches requests by URI path
   • Supports multiple servers for load balancing
   • Provides fallback destination when no specific route matches

2. Content-based Routes: Defined in netty-route.properties

   • Matches requests by URI path AND content keywords
   • Supports multiple keywords with AND logic
   • Supports multiple servers for load balancing
   • Takes precedence over default routes

Example Usage

Request Flow Example with Load Balancing

1. Client sends POST request to http://localhost:8999/fcgi-bin/UIG_SFC_186
2. Router matches the path fcgi-bin/UIG_SFC_186
3. Router checks request content for keywords (e.g., "1", "2", "3")
4. If keywords match, applies load balancing to http://10.46.158.20:8088/fcgi-bin/UIG_SFC_186,http://10.46.158.21:8088/fcgi-bin/UIG_SFC_186
5. If no keywords match, applies load balancing to default servers
6. Returns backend response to client

Load Balancing Example

# Configuration with 3 servers
netty-gateway.config1.defaultAddr=http://server1:8080/api,http://server2:8080/api,http://server3:8080/api

With Round Robin strategy:

• Request 1 → server1:8080
• Request 2 → server2:8080
• Request 3 → server3:8080
• Request 4 → server1:8080 (cycles back)

Performance Characteristics

• High Throughput: Asynchronous, non-blocking I/O operations
• Low Latency: Direct memory access with Netty's zero-copy capabilities
• Scalability: Configurable thread pool based on available CPU cores
• Memory Efficiency: Efficient buffer management and object pooling
• Load Distribution: Even distribution across multiple backend servers

Monitoring and Logging

The router provides built-in logging for:

• Request details and content
• URL matching results
• Load balancing decisions
• Error conditions and exceptions
• System information on startup

Testing

Run the test suite to verify load balancing functionality:

mvn test

License

This project is open source. Please refer to the original repository for license information.