US5991771A — Transaction synchronization in a disconnectable c…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 130 words

A method for synchronizing transactions in a system, the system including at least two computers capable of being connected by a network link, each of the computers including a storage device containing a distributed hierarchical database replica, a device controller in signal communication with the storage device, a replica manager in signal communication with the device controller and the network link, and a database manager in signal communication with the replica manager, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of: routing database transactions with the database managers through the replica managers to the device controllers; connecting at least two computers with the network link; and using each of at least two replica managers to route a transaction to another replica manager after the two computers are connected by the network link.

Claim 2

Independent Claim 130 words

A method for synchronizing transactions in a system, the system including at least two computers capable of being connected by a network link, each of the computers including a storage device containing a distributed hierarchical database replica, a device controller in signal communication with the storage device, a replica manager in signal communication with the device controller and the network link, and a database manager in signal communication with the replica manager, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of: routing database transactions with the database managers through the replica managers to the device controllers; connecting at least two computers with the network link; and using each of at least two replica managers to route a transaction to another replica manager after the two computers are connected by the network link.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 19 words

The method of claim 1, further comprising the computer-implemented step of recording a transaction on a non-volatile storage medium.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 23 words

The method of claim 2, wherein said recording step comprises the step of entering a representation of the transaction in a transaction log.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 155 words

The method of claim 1 for synchronizing transactions in the system, the system containing a network of connectable computers, the transactions targeting entries in the distributed hierarchical database replicas, the replicas residing on separate computers in the network, said method comprising the steps of: obtaining a network connection between a first computer and a second computer as part of said step of connecting at least two computers with the network link; identifying a first transaction that targets a distributed hierarchical database entry in a first replica on the first computer, as part of said step of routing database transactions; and as part of said step of using each of at least two replica managers, locating a corresponding second replica that resides on the second computer, transferring an update based on the first transaction over the network connection from the first computer to the second computer, and applying the first transaction update to the second replica.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 18 words

The method of claim 4, wherein the replicas contain file descriptors and directory descriptors for a file system.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 12 words

The method of claim 4, wherein the replicas contain directory services entries.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 32 words

The method of claim 4, wherein said step of transferring an update comprises transferring a transaction sequence number corresponding to the first transaction and a location identifier corresponding to the first computer.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 31 words

The method of claim 7, wherein the first transaction is one of a plurality of transactions completed at the first computer and each completed transaction has a corresponding transaction sequence number.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 16 words

The method of claim 8, wherein the transaction sequence numbers are generated in a predetermined order.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 18 words

The method of claim 9, wherein the transaction sequence numbers are consecutive and monotonic for all completed transactions.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 27 words

The method of claim 8, further comprising the computer-implemented step of detecting a missed update by detecting a gap in a plurality of transferred transaction sequence numbers.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 43 words

The method of claim 7, wherein the first transaction is one of a plurality of transactions completed at the first computer, each completed transaction has a corresponding transaction sequence number, and the transaction sequence numbers are consecutive and monotonic for all completed transactions.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 27 words

The method of claim 12, further comprising the computer-implemented step of detecting a missed update by detecting a gap in a plurality of transferred transaction sequence numbers.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 51 words

The method of claim 4, wherein said transferring step further comprises transferring the first transaction update to at least one computer other than the first and second computers, and said applying step further comprises applying the first transaction update to at least one replica other than the first and second replicas.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 22 words

The method of claim 4, wherein said applying step comprises setting a database object lock that serializes updates to the first replica.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 19 words

The method of claim 4, wherein said applying step comprises applying the first transaction to the second replica atomically.

Claim 18

Independent Claim 111 words

A system comprising at least two computers capable of being connected by a network link, each of said computers comprising: a storage device containing a replica, said replica containing entries of a distributed hierarchical database; a device controller in signal communication with said storage device; a replica manager in signal communication with said device controller and said network link; and a database manager in signal communication with said replica manager, said database manager on each computer configured to route database transactions to said device controller only through said replica manager, and said replica managers configured to route such transactions to each other after said computers are connected by said network link.

Claim 19

Independent Claim 111 words

A system comprising at least two computers capable of being connected by a network link, each of said computers comprising: a storage device containing a replica, said replica containing entries of a distributed hierarchical database; a device controller in signal communication with said storage device; a replica manager in signal communication with said device controller and said network link; and a database manager in signal communication with said replica manager, said database manager on each computer configured to route database transactions to said device controller only through said replica manager, and said replica managers configured to route such transactions to each other after said computers are connected by said network link.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 19 words

The system of claim 17, wherein each of said replica managers comprises a replica distributor and a replica processor.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 17 words

The system of claim 18, wherein said replica distributor comprises a consistency distributor and a location distributor.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 23 words

The system of claim 18, wherein said replica distributor comprises a consistency distributor, a location distributor, an object distributor, and an object schema.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 14 words

The system of claim 20, wherein said replica distributor further comprises a file distributor.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 18 words

The system of claim 18, wherein said replica processor comprises a consistency processor and a location state processor.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 24 words

The system of claim 18, wherein said replica processor comprises a consistency processor, a location state processor, an object processor, and a transaction logger.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 14 words

The system of claim 23, wherein said replica processor further comprises a file processor.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 51 words

The system of claim 17, wherein said replica manager comprises trigger function registrations, each registration associating a registered trigger function with a database operation such that the registered trigger function will be invoked on each replica, once the computers are connected, if the associated operation is requested of the database manager.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 21 words

The system of claim 25, wherein the associated operation belongs to the group consisting of add, remove, modify, and move operations.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 18 words

The system of claim 17, wherein said replicas contain file descriptors and directory descriptors for a file system.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 12 words

The system of claim 17, wherein said replicas contain directory services entries.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 248 words

A computer-readable storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which cause a first computer and a second computer in a system to perform method steps for synchronizing transactions, the system including at least two computers capable of being connected by a network link, each of the computers including a storage device containing a distributed hierarchical database replica, a device controller in signal communication with the storage device, a replica manager in signal communication with the device controller and the network link, and a database manager in signal communication with the replica manager, the method comprising the steps of: routing database transactions with the database managers through the replica managers to the device controllers; connecting at least two computers with the network link; and using each of at least two replica managers to route a transaction to another replica manager after the two computers are connected by the network link by: identifying a first transaction that targets an entry in the first replica, which resides on the first computer; transferring an update based on the first transaction over the network connection from the first computer to the second computer; applying the first transaction update to the second replica, which resides on the second computer; identifying a second transaction that targets an entry in the second replica; transferring an update based on the second transaction over the network connection from the second computer to the first computer; and applying the second transaction update to the first replica.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 248 words

A computer-readable storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which cause a first computer and a second computer in a system to perform method steps for synchronizing transactions, the system including at least two computers capable of being connected by a network link, each of the computers including a storage device containing a distributed hierarchical database replica, a device controller in signal communication with the storage device, a replica manager in signal communication with the device controller and the network link, and a database manager in signal communication with the replica manager, the method comprising the steps of: routing database transactions with the database managers through the replica managers to the device controllers; connecting at least two computers with the network link; and using each of at least two replica managers to route a transaction to another replica manager after the two computers are connected by the network link by: identifying a first transaction that targets an entry in the first replica, which resides on the first computer; transferring an update based on the first transaction over the network connection from the first computer to the second computer; applying the first transaction update to the second replica, which resides on the second computer; identifying a second transaction that targets an entry in the second replica; transferring an update based on the second transaction over the network connection from the second computer to the first computer; and applying the second transaction update to the first replica.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 24 words

The storage medium of claim 29, wherein the method further comprises the step of entering a representation of a transaction in a transaction log.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 27 words

The storage medium of claim 29, wherein the distributed hierarchical database includes objects and object attributes defined according to a schema that is accessible outside the database.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 19 words

The storage medium of claim 29, wherein the replicas contain file descriptors and directory descriptors for a file system.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 13 words

The storage medium of claim 29, wherein the replicas contain directory services entries.

Claim 37

Dependent Claim 33 words

The storage medium of claim 29, wherein the step of transferring an update comprises transferring a transaction sequence number corresponding to the first transaction and a location identifier corresponding to the first computer.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2002-11-22	2003-05-24	2003-11-23	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2006-11-22	2007-05-24	2007-11-23	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2010-11-22	2011-05-24	2011-11-23	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Transaction synchronization in a disconnectable computer and network

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