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US5325519A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Fault tolerant computer with archival rollback capabilities

Assignee: Radisys Corp
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Filing: 1991-10-18
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Granted: 1994-06-28
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Expires: 2011-10-18
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Abstract

Abstract A computer system comprises a storage device comprising a plurality of locations for storing data and having a defined audit partition region comprising one or more of said locations and processing circuitry for detecting access requests to alter data on respective sets of one or more of locations of the storage device. Responsive to each access request, the processing circuitry stores data from said respective set of locations in the audit partition region prior to performing the access request, such that a sequence of data transfers from the storage device is stored in the audit partition region in a known order. Responsive to a user request, data is restored from the sequence of data transfers in the audit partition region to the respective set of locations on the storage device to return the storage device to a previous state.

Inventors

  • 👤 Donald W. Long
  • 👤 Charles D. Hultgren

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-28 18:03
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F3/00; G06F3/06; G06F3/0601; G06F3/0602; G06F3/0614; G06F3/0619; G06F3/0628; G06F3/0638; G06F3/0644; G06F3/0668; G06F3/0671; G06F3/0673; G06F3/0674; G06F3/0676

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 50
Claim 1
Independent Claim 136 words
A computer system comprising: a storage device comprising a plurality of locations for storing data and having a defined audit partition region comprising one or more of said locations; and processing circuitry for: detecting access requests to alter data on respective sets of one or more of locations of the storage device; responsive to each access request, storing data from said respective set of locations in the audit partition region prior to performing the access request, such that a sequence of data transfers from the storage device is stored in the audit partition region in a known order; and responsive to a user request, restoring data from the sequence of data transfers in the audit partition region to the respective set of locations on the storage device to return the storage device to a previous state.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 136 words
A computer system comprising: a storage device comprising a plurality of locations for storing data and having a defined audit partition region comprising one or more of said locations; and processing circuitry for: detecting access requests to alter data on respective sets of one or more of locations of the storage device; responsive to each access request, storing data from said respective set of locations in the audit partition region prior to performing the access request, such that a sequence of data transfers from the storage device is stored in the audit partition region in a known order; and responsive to a user request, restoring data from the sequence of data transfers in the audit partition region to the respective set of locations on the storage device to return the storage device to a previous state.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 20 words
The computer system of claim 1 wherein said partition region comprises an audit header region and an audit buffer region.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 29 words
The computer system of claim 2 wherein said storage device has a defined configuration and said audit header region contains information about the configuration of the audit buffer region.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 18 words
The computer system of claim 2 wherein said audit buffer region contains event information relating to system events.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 51 words
The computer system of claim 4 wherein said event information comprises one or more audit markers, each audit marker comprising a marker header specifying a type for the event and a time at which the event occurred and a marker trailer providing information for determining the location of the marker header.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 17 words
The computer system of claim 5 wherein the marker header further comprises the data to be altered.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 19 words
The computer system of claim 1 wherein said processing circuitry transfers data from the audit buffer to removable media.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 27 words
The computer system of claim 7 wherein said processing circuitry transfers data to said removable media responsive to a predetermined percentage of said audit buffer being full.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 29 words
The computer system of claim 8 wherein said processing circuitry transfers data from said audit buffer until a predetermined percentage of the audit buffer is available for new data.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 29 words
The computer system of claim 1 wherein said processing circuitry transfers data from the audit buffer to the storage device to return the storage device to a previous state.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 24 words
The computer system of claim 1 wherein said processing circuitry detects system events and stores information regarding the events in the audit partition region.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 25 words
The computer system of claim 11 and further comprising circuitry to generate a signal responsive to an event of enabling power to the computer system.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 24 words
The computer system of claim 11 and further comprising circuitry to generate a signal responsive to an event of power failure to the system.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 27 words
The computer system of claim 11 and further comprising circuitry to generate a signal responsive to a user input defining a desired state of the computer system.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 19 words
The computer system of claim 11 and further comprising circuitry to generate a signal responsive to a system reboot.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 139 words
A storage device subsystem for providing rollback to a previous desired state, comprising: a storage medium comprising a plurality of locations for storing data and having a defined audit partition region comprising one or more of said locations; and processing circuitry for: detecting access requests to alter data on respective sets of one or more of said locations of the storage device; responsive to each access request, storing data from said respective set of locations in the audit partition region prior to performing the access request, such that a sequence of data transfers from the storage device is stored in the audit partition region in a known order; and responsive to a user request, restoring data from said audit partition region to said storage device responsive to a user request to return the storage device to a previous state.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 139 words
A storage device subsystem for providing rollback to a previous desired state, comprising: a storage medium comprising a plurality of locations for storing data and having a defined audit partition region comprising one or more of said locations; and processing circuitry for: detecting access requests to alter data on respective sets of one or more of said locations of the storage device; responsive to each access request, storing data from said respective set of locations in the audit partition region prior to performing the access request, such that a sequence of data transfers from the storage device is stored in the audit partition region in a known order; and responsive to a user request, restoring data from said audit partition region to said storage device responsive to a user request to return the storage device to a previous state.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 21 words
The storage device subsystem of claim 16 wherein said partition region comprises an audit header region and an audit buffer region.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 30 words
The storage device subsystem of claim 17 wherein said storage device has a defined configuration and said audit header region contains information about the configuration of the audit buffer region.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 19 words
The storage device subsystem of claim 17 wherein said audit buffer region contains event information relating to system events.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 52 words
The storage device subsystem of claim 19 wherein said event information comprises one or more audit markers, each audit marker comprising a marker header specifying a type for the event and a time at which the event occurred and a marker trailer providing information for determining the location of the marker header.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim 18 words
The storage device subsystem of claim 20 wherein the marker header further comprises the data to be altered.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim 20 words
The storage device subsystem of claim 16 wherein said processing circuitry transfers data from the audit buffer to removable media.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim 29 words
The storage device subsystem of claim 22 wherein said processing circuitry is transfers data to said removable media responsive to a predetermined percentage of said audit buffer being full.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim 32 words
The storage device subsystem of claim 23 wherein said processing circuitry is further transfers data from said audit buffer until a predetermined percentage of the audit buffer is available for new data.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim 31 words
The storage device subsystem of claim 16 wherein said processing circuitry is transfers data from the audit buffer to the storage medium to return the storage device to a previous state.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim 25 words
The storage device subsystem of claim 16 wherein said processing circuitry detects system events and stores information regarding the events in the audit partition region.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim 26 words
The storage device subsystem of claim 26 and further comprising circuitry to generate a signal responsive to an event of enabling power to the computer system.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim 25 words
The storage device subsystem of claim 26 and further comprising circuitry to generate a signal responsive to an event of power failure to the system.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim 28 words
The storage device subsystem of claim 26 and further comprising circuitry to generate a signal responsive to a user input defining a desired state of the computer system.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim 20 words
The storage device subsystem of claim 26 and further comprising circuitry to generate a signal responsive to a system reboot.
Claim 33
Independent Claim 141 words
A method of providing rollback of data on a storage device comprising a plurality of locations for storing data to a previous desired state, comprising the steps of: defining an audit partition region on the storage device comprising one or more of the locations; detecting access requests to alter data on respective sets of one or more of said locations of the storage device; responsive to each access request, storing data from said set of locations in the audit partition region prior to performing the access request, such that a sequence of data transfers from the storage device is stored in the audit partition region in a known order; and responsive to a user request, restoring data from the audit partition region to the respective set of locations on the storage device to return the storage device to a previous state.
Claim 34
Independent Claim 141 words
A method of providing rollback of data on a storage device comprising a plurality of locations for storing data to a previous desired state, comprising the steps of: defining an audit partition region on the storage device comprising one or more of the locations; detecting access requests to alter data on respective sets of one or more of said locations of the storage device; responsive to each access request, storing data from said set of locations in the audit partition region prior to performing the access request, such that a sequence of data transfers from the storage device is stored in the audit partition region in a known order; and responsive to a user request, restoring data from the audit partition region to the respective set of locations on the storage device to return the storage device to a previous state.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim 23 words
The method of claim 31 wherein said defining step comprises the step of defining an audit header region and an audit buffer region.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim 34 words
The method of claim 32 wherein said storage device has a defined configuration and further comprising the step of storing information about the configuration of the audit buffer region in the audit header region.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim 23 words
The method of claim 32 and further comprising the step of storing event information relating to system events in the audit buffer region.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim 74 words
The method of claim 34 wherein said step of storing event information in the audit buffer region comprises storing audit markers, each audit marker comprising a marker header specify a type for the event and a time at which the event occurred and a marker trailer providing information for determining the location of the marker header. time which it occurred and a marker trailer providing information for determining the location of the marker header.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim 27 words
The method of claim 35 wherein said step of storing audit markers further comprises the step of storing the data to be altered in said marker header.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim 20 words
The method of claim 31 and further comprising the step of transferring data from the audit buffer to removable media.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim 27 words
The method of claim 37 wherein said transferring step comprises transferring data to said removable media responsive to a predetermined percentage of said audit buffer being full.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim 38 words
The method of claim 38 wherein said wherein said step of transferring data from the audit buffer further comprises transferring data from said audit buffer until a predetermined percentage of the audit buffer is available for new data.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim 30 words
The method of claim 31 and further comprises the step of transferring data from the audit buffer to the hard disk to return the hard disk to a previous state.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim 24 words
The method of claim 31 and further the steps of detecting system events and storing information regarding the events in the audit partition region.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim 25 words
The method of claim 41 and further comprising the step of generating a signal responsive to a detection of power applied to the computer system.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim 23 words
The method of claim 41 and further comprising the step of generating a signal responsive to detection of power failure to the system.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim 23 words
The method of claim 41 and further comprising the step of generating a signal responsive to a user input defining a desired state.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim 19 words
The method of claim 41 and further comprising the step of generating a signal responsive to a system reboot.
Claim 49
Independent Claim 146 words
A method of providing rollback of data on a storage device comprising a plurality of locations to a previous desired state, comprising the steps of: detecting requests to write to the storage device; for each request: detecting a set of locations to which the request is directed; transferring data from said set of locations to an archival memory, such that a sequence of data transfers from the storage device is stored in the archival memory in a known order; writing the storage device responsive to the request, such that a copy of the data in said set of locations is stored in the archival memory after said set of locations is overwritten; and responsive to a user input, restoring data from the archival memory to the respective set of locations on the storage device to return the state of the storage device to a previous state.
Claim 50
Independent Claim 146 words
A method of providing rollback of data on a storage device comprising a plurality of locations to a previous desired state, comprising the steps of: detecting requests to write to the storage device; for each request: detecting a set of locations to which the request is directed; transferring data from said set of locations to an archival memory, such that a sequence of data transfers from the storage device is stored in the archival memory in a known order; writing the storage device responsive to the request, such that a copy of the data in said set of locations is stored in the archival memory after said set of locations is overwritten; and responsive to a user input, restoring data from the archival memory to the respective set of locations on the storage device to return the state of the storage device to a previous state.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US4878167A Cited
US4996687A Cited
US5086502A Cited
US5138710A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1997-06-27 1997-12-27 1998-06-28 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2001-06-27 2001-12-27 2002-06-28 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2005-06-27 2005-12-27 2006-06-28 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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