EP0713183A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Network independent file shadowing
Assignee: Microsoft Corp
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Filing: 1995-11-14
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2015-11-14
Abstract
Abstract Network independent file shadowing is provided by the present invention. The file shadowing mechanism automatically and transparently stores shadow copies of remote file system structures when they are accessed by a computer. The shadow copies of the file system structures are stored within a shadow database that resides within local memory of the computer. When the computer becomes disconnected from a network, shadow copies of file system structures for the network are used to service requests to access such file system structures.
Inventors
- 👤 Shishir Pardikar
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 17:38
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F16/00; G06F16/10; G06F16/17; G06F16/172; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S707/00; Y10S707/99931; Y10S707/99938; Y10S707/99951; Y10S707/99952; Y10S707/99953
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
171 words
In a data processing system having a computer with a storage device and that is connectable to a first network of a first type and a second network of a second type, wherein the first network and the second network each store file system structures, a method of providing access to one of the file system structures from one of the networks when the computer is disconnected from at least one of the networks, comprising the steps of: when the computer is connected to a selected one of the networks and a program is running on the computer, (i) receiving a request to access a selected one of the file system structures stored on the selected network from the program; (ii) in response to the request, transparently obtaining a shadow copy of the selected file system structure relative to the program; and (iii) storing the shadow copy of the selected file system structure in a shadow database on the storage device which holds file system structures connected to the selected network.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
57 words
The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: when the computer is disconnected from the selected network, (i) receiving a request to access the selected file system structure of the selected network; and (ii) using the shadow copy of the selected file system structure that is stored in the shadow database to service the request.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of flushing the shadow database to remove all file system structures for the selected network when the computer is reconnected to the selected network.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
56 words
The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: before storing the shadow copy, determining that there is insufficient free space in the shadow database to store the shadow copy; and deleting file system structures in the shadow database to create sufficient free space to store the shadow copy of the selected file system structure.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
72 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the shadow database is a priority queue that stores file system structures in the priority queue according to priority of the file system structures and wherein the selected file system structure has a priority and said step of storing the shadow copy of the selected file system structure at a location in the priority queue is based on the priority of the selected file system structure.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
142 words
In a data processing system having a computer with a storage and being connectable to a plurality of networks of different types wherein at least a selected one of the networks stores a selected file system structure, a method of providing access to the selected file system structure when the computer is disconnected from the selected network, comprising the steps of: providing a shadow database in the storage for storing shadow copies of file system structures that are retrieved from the networks, said shadow database including a shadow copy of the selected file system structure from the selected network; when the computer is disconnected from the selected network, (i) receiving a request to access the selected file system structure; and (ii) using the shadow copy of the selected file system structure that is stored in the shadow database to service the request.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 6 wherein the step of providing the shadow database comprises the step of providing the shadow database as a priority queue wherein each shadow copy of a file system structure has a priority and a position of each shadow copy within the queue is determined by its priority.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of claim 6 wherein the computer system runs an application program and wherein the application program generates the request to access the selected file system structure and wherein said step of using the shadow copy of the selected file system structure to service the request is performed transparently relative to the application program.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
68 words
The method of claim 6, further comprising the steps of: when the computer is disconnected from a second of the networks, (i) receiving a request to access a file system structure in the second network; and (ii) using a given shadow copy of the file system structure to be accessed from the second network to service the request, the given shadow copy being stored in the shadow database.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
131 words
In a data processing system having a computer with a storage and being connectable to a plurality of networks of different types wherein each network includes at least one file system structure, a method comprising the steps of: when the computer is connected to the networks, (i) receiving requests to access file system structures in the networks; (ii) storing shadow copies of the file system structures for which requests to access are received in a shadow database in the storage; when the computer is disconnected from at least one of the networks and a request to access a selected file system structure in one of the disconnected networks is received, accessing the shadow database to use a shadow copy of the selected file system structure stored therein to service the request.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
76 words
The method of claim 10 wherein each shadow copy of a file system structure stored in the shadow database has a priority and said step of storing shadow copies of the file system structures for which requests to access are received in the shadow database in the storage comprises the step of storing the shadow copies as a priority queue wherein a position of each shadow copy within the priority queue is determined by its priority.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
54 words
The method of claim 10 wherein the step of storing shadow copies comprises the steps of: determining that insufficient free space is available in the shadow database to store a given one of the shadow copies; deleting shadow copies from the shadow database to provide sufficient free space to store the given shadow copy.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of: storing a timestamp for each shadow copy in the storage, each timestamp indicating when the shadow copy was stored in the shadow database; storing updated versions of shadow copies when the timestamps indicate that the presently stored shadow copies are too old.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
66 words
A computer system that is connectable to different types of networks comprising: a shadow database holding shadow copies of selected file system structures from different types of networks; and a shadow module for responding to a request to access one of the selected file system structures by accessing the shadow database to obtain a shadow copy of the one file system structure to service the request.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
37 words
The computer system of claim 14, further comprising a shadow database builder for building the shadow database by storing shadow copies of the selected file system structures when the file system structures are accessed by the computer.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
15 words
The computer system of claim 14, further comprising an agent for maintaining the shadow database.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
19 words
The computer system of claim 14, further comprising file system drivers for interfacing with file systems of the networks.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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