Multimedia file systems using file managers located on clients for managing network attached storage devices

Claim 2

A file system for a multi-media storage system operable to communicate information over a network with a plurality of multimedia clients, said network having an available network bandwidth, the file system comprising: a cluster for defining a grouping of network components; said cluster comprising; a cluster manager assigned to one of said multimedia clients, having an associated network storage device coupled to said network for storing and retrieving at least one file, said network storage device having an available disk bandwidth, said cluster manager comprising; an admission controller, operable in response to a file request from a multimedia client for a file operation upon a selected file, to control admission of said file request; a network status determiner, activable in response to a network bandwidth request from said admission controller, to determine the available network bandwidth; and at least one file manager associated with said network storage device, said at least one file manager located on one of said clients, for managing file maintenance procedures of said at: least one file and including a disk status determiner, activable in response to a disk bandwidth request from the admission controller, to determine the available disk bandwidth; wherein, said admission controller, in response to said file request, sends said network bandwidth request and said disk bandwidth request to determine whether said available network bandwidth and said available disk bandwidth are sufficient to support the requested file operation.

Claim 3

The file system of claim 1 further comprising a system metadata table for providing a disk location of said at least one files, wherein said client queries the system metadata table to determine the disk where the selected file is located.

Claim 4

The file system of claim 1 wherein said at least one file manager further comprises a write lock manager, operable to prevent more than one of said at least one client from simultaneously writing to said selected file.

Claim 5

The file system of claim 3 wherein the write lock manager further comprises a write circular buffer for storing a write request for said selected file such that said write request is serviced on a first stored first served basis.

Claim 6

The file system of claim 3 wherein the write lock manager further comprises a read circular buffer for storing a read request for said selected file such that said read request is serviced on a first stored first served basis.

Claim 7

The file system of claim 1 wherein the cluster manager further includes a cluster controller for regulating the creation and deletion of said at least one file manager and a broadcaster for notifying the at least one clients of the creation or deletion of said file manager.

Claim 8

The file system of claim 1 wherein said file manager includes a load notifier for providing a notification to the cluster manager that the available disk bandwidth of one of said at least one file managers is greater than a load index level; and said cluster manager further includes a cluster controller, responsive to said notification, for creating a file manager to provide additional disk bandwidth such that the available disk bandwidth for both of the file managers is greater than the load index level.

Claim 9

The file system of claim 1 wherein said file manager includes a load notifier for providing a notification to the cluster manager that the available disk bandwidth of one of the at least one file managers having a loaded bandwidth is less than a bandwidth index level; and said cluster manager further includes a cluster controller, responsive to said notification, for eliminating said file manager such that the loaded bandwidth of said file manager is transferred to another of said at least one file managers decreasing the available disk bandwidth of said another file manager.

Claim 10

The file system of claim 1 further comprising a file manager mirror corresponding to each, of said at least one file managers.

Claim 11

The file system of claim 1 further comprising a cluster manager mirror corresponding to each of said cluster managers.

Claim 12

The file system of claim 10 further comprising a network bandwidth scheduler for allocating network bandwidth by multiplexing file operations corresponding to said file request.

Claim 13

The file system of claim 1 further comprising a security manager for limiting access to said at least one network storage device by said at least one client.

Claim 14

A file system for a multi-media storage system operable to communicate information over a network having an available network bandwidth, the file system comprising: at least one network storage device coupled through the network to at least one multi-media client, each of said at least one network storage devices having an available disk bandwidth and including at least one file; a cluster manager located on one of said at least one clients for managing a cluster, one of said cluster manager corresponding to each of said at least one network storage devices, said cluster manager including; an admission controller, operable in response to a request for a file operation upon a selected file, said request from one of said at least one clients, to control admission of said request; and a network status determiner, activable in response to a network bandwidth request from the admission controller, to determine the available network bandwidth; at least one file manager located on one of said at least one clients for managing file maintenance procedures of said file located on said network storage device, said at least one file manager including; a disk status determiner, activable in response to a disk bandwidth request from the admission controller, to determine the available disk bandwidth; a file access queue for ensuring data integrity; and a file access timer coupled to the file access queue; and said cluster manager further including a cluster controller for regulating the creation and deletion of said at least one file manager; wherein, said admission controller, in response to said request, sends said network bandwidth request and said disk bandwidth request to determine whether said available network bandwidth and said available disk bandwidth is sufficient to support the requested file operation.

Claim 15

A file system for a multi-media storage system operable to communicate information over a network having an available network bandwidth, the file system comprising: at least one network storage device coupled through the network to at least one multi-media client, each of said at least one network storage devices having an available disk bandwidth and including at least one file; a cluster manager located on one of said at least one clients for managing a cluster, one of said cluster manager corresponding to each of said at least one network storage devices, said cluster manager including; an admission controller, operable in response to a request for a file operation upon a selected file, said request from one of said at least one clients, to control admission of said request; and a network status determiner, activable in response to a network bandwidth request from the admission controller, to determine the available network bandwidth; at least one file manager located on one of said at least one clients for managing file maintenance procedures of said file located on said network storage device, said at least one file manager including; a disk status determiner, activable in response to a disk bandwidth request from the admission controller, to determine the available disk bandwidth; a file access queue for ensuring data integrity; and a file access timer coupled to the file access queue; and said cluster manager further including a cluster controller for regulating the creation and deletion of said at least one file manager; wherein, said admission controller, in response to said request, sends said network bandwidth request and said disk bandwidth request to determine whether said available network bandwidth and said available disk bandwidth is sufficient to support the requested file operation.

Claim 16

The file system of claim 13 further comprising a disk scheduler for scheduling read and write operations to the at least one network storage device.

Claim 19

The method of claim 15 wherein the step of determining the disk location of a selected file includes querying a file locator table connected to at least one of said at least one client.

Claim 20

The method of claim 15 wherein the step of determining the disk location of a selected file includes querying a disk metadata table included in the cluster manager.

Claim 21

The method of claim 15 wherein the step of determining the available network bandwidth comprises: locking a network status table that lists the available network bandwidth; applying a split and share technique to determine the available network bandwidth; and unlocking the network status table.

Claim 22

A file system for a multi-media storage system operable to communicate information over a network with a plurality of multimedia clients, said network having an available network bandwidth, the file system comprising: at least one network storage device coupled to said network for storing and retrieving at least one file, said network storage device having an available disk bandwidth, a disk manager associated with said network storage device located on one of said clients, said disk manager for managing file maintenance procedures of said at least one file and including; an admission controller, operable in response to a file request from one of said clients for a file operation upon a selected file, to control admission of said file request; and a disk status determiner, activable in response to a disk bandwidth request from the admission controller, to determine the available disk bandwidth; and a network manager assigned to one of said multimedia clients, for providing network services, said network manager including a network status determiner, activable in response to a network bandwidth request from said admission controller, to determine the available network bandwidth; wherein, said admission controller, in response to said file request, sends said network bandwidth request and said disk bandwidth request to determine whether said available network bandwidth and said available disk bandwidth are sufficient to support the requested file operation.

Claim 23

A file system for a multi-media storage system operable to communicate information over a network with a plurality of multimedia clients, said network having an available network bandwidth, the file system comprising: at least one network storage device coupled to said network for storing and retrieving at least one file, said network storage device having an available disk bandwidth, a disk manager associated with said network storage device located on one of said clients, said disk manager for managing file maintenance procedures of said at least one file and including; an admission controller, operable in response to a file request from one of said clients for a file operation upon a selected file, to control admission of said file request; and a disk status determiner, activable in response to a disk bandwidth request from the admission controller, to determine the available disk bandwidth; and a network manager assigned to one of said multimedia clients, for providing network services, said network manager including a network status determiner, activable in response to a network bandwidth request from said admission controller, to determine the available network bandwidth; wherein, said admission controller, in response to said file request, sends said network bandwidth request and said disk bandwidth request to determine whether said available network bandwidth and said available disk bandwidth are sufficient to support the requested file operation.

Claim 24

The file system of claim 19 further comprising a system metadata table for providing a disk location of said at least one files, wherein said client queries the system metadata table to determine the disk where the selected file is located.

Claim 25

The file system of claim 19 wherein said at least one disk manager further comprises a write lock manager, operable to prevent more than one of said at least one client from simultaneously writing to said selected file.

Claim 26

The file system of claim 21 wherein the write lock manager further comprises a write circular buffer for storing a write request for said selected file such that said write request is serviced on a first stored first served basis.

Claim 27

The file system of claim 21 wherein the write lock manager further comprises a read circular buffer for storing a read request for said selected file such that said read request is serviced on a first stored first served basis.

Claim 28

The file system of claim 19 wherein said plurality of clients further include a disk manager locator table for providing a location of said disk manager.

Claim 29

The file system of claim 19 further comprising a disk manager mirror corresponding to said disk manager.

Claim 30

The file system of claim 19 further comprising a network manager mirror corresponding to said network manager.

Claim 31

A file system for a multi-media storage system operable to communicate information over a network with a plurality of multimedia clients, said network having an available network bandwidth, the file system comprising: at least one network storage device coupled to said network for storing and retrieving at least one file, said network storage device having an available disk bandwidth, a system metadata table for providing a disk location of said at least one files; a disk manager associated with said network storage device located on one of said clients, said disk manager for managing file maintenance procedures of said at least one file and including; an admission controller, operable in response to a file request from one of said clients for a file operation upon a selected file, to control admission of said file request; a disk status determiner, activable in response to a disk bandwidth request from the admission controller, to determine the available disk bandwidth; a write lock manager, operable to prevent more than one of said at least one client from simultaneously writing to said selected file; and a write circular buffer for storing said file request for said selected file such that said file request is serviced on a first stored first served basis; and a network manager assigned to one of said multimedia clients, for providing network services, said network manager including a network status determiner, activable in response to a network bandwidth request from said admission controller, to determine the available network bandwidth; wherein, said admission controller, in response to said file request, sends said network bandwidth request and said disk bandwidth request to determine whether said available network bandwidth and said available disk bandwidth are sufficient to support the requested file operation.

Claim 32

A file system for a multi-media storage system operable to communicate information over a network with a plurality of multimedia clients, said network having an available network bandwidth, the file system comprising: at least one network storage device coupled to said network for storing and retrieving at least one file, said network storage device having an available disk bandwidth, a system metadata table for providing a disk location of said at least one files; a disk manager associated with said network storage device located on one of said clients, said disk manager for managing file maintenance procedures of said at least one file and including; an admission controller, operable in response to a file request from one of said clients for a file operation upon a selected file, to control admission of said file request; a disk status determiner, activable in response to a disk bandwidth request from the admission controller, to determine the available disk bandwidth; a write lock manager, operable to prevent more than one of said at least one client from simultaneously writing to said selected file; and a write circular buffer for storing said file request for said selected file such that said file request is serviced on a first stored first served basis; and a network manager assigned to one of said multimedia clients, for providing network services, said network manager including a network status determiner, activable in response to a network bandwidth request from said admission controller, to determine the available network bandwidth; wherein, said admission controller, in response to said file request, sends said network bandwidth request and said disk bandwidth request to determine whether said available network bandwidth and said available disk bandwidth are sufficient to support the requested file operation.

Claim 35

The method of claim 28 wherein the step of querying another of said at least two managers further comprises the steps of: determining which criteria to rely upon for selecting an order in which to query said at least two managers; selecting the order; and querying said at least two managers in the selected order.

Claim 38

A file system for a multi-media storage system operable to communicate information over a network with a plurality of clients, said network having an available network bandwidth, the file system comprising: said plurality of clients including an admission controller, operable in response to a file request from a multimedia client for a file operation upon a selected file, to control admission of said file request; a network storage device having an available disk bandwidth coupled to the network for retrieving and storing file control information and at least one file, said network storage device comprising; a disk manager for managing file maintenance procedures of said network storage device, said disk manager including; a disk status determiner, activable in response to a disk bandwidth request from the admission controller, to determine the available disk bandwidth; a network manager located on one of said network storage devices for providing network services, said network manager including a network status table for providing the available network bandwidth in response to a network bandwidth request from the admission controller; wherein, said admission controller, in response to said file request, sends said network bandwidth request and said disk bandwidth request to determine whether said available network bandwidth and said available disk bandwidth are sufficient to support the requested file operation.

Claim 39

A file system for a multi-media storage system operable to communicate information over a network with a plurality of clients, said network having an available network bandwidth, the file system comprising: said plurality of clients including an admission controller, operable in response to a file request from a multimedia client for a file operation upon a selected file, to control admission of said file request; a network storage device having an available disk bandwidth coupled to the network for retrieving and storing file control information and at least one file, said network storage device comprising; a disk manager for managing file maintenance procedures of said network storage device, said disk manager including; a disk status determiner, activable in response to a disk bandwidth request from the admission controller, to determine the available disk bandwidth; a network manager located on one of said network storage devices for providing network services, said network manager including a network status table for providing the available network bandwidth in response to a network bandwidth request from the admission controller; wherein, said admission controller, in response to said file request, sends said network bandwidth request and said disk bandwidth request to determine whether said available network bandwidth and said available disk bandwidth are sufficient to support the requested file operation.

Claim 40

The file system of claim 31 further comprising a system metadata table for providing a disk location of said at least one files, wherein said client queries the system metadata table to determine the disk where the selected file is located.

Claim 41

The file system of claim 31 wherein said at least on file manager further,comprises a write lock manager, operable to prevent more than one said at least one client from simultaneously writing to said selected file.

Claim 42

The file system of claim 33 wherein the write lock manager further comprises a write circular buffer for storing a write request for said selected file such that said write request is serviced on a first stored first served basis.

Claim 43

The file system of claim 33 wherein the write lock manager further comprises a read circular buffer for storing a read request for said selected file such that said read request is serviced on a first stored first served basis.

Claim 44

The file system of claim 31 further comprising a network manager mirror corresponding to each of said network managers.

Claim 45

A file system for a multi-media storage system operable to communicate information over a network with a plurality of clients, said network having an available network bandwidth, the file system comprising: a network storage device having an available disk bandwidth coupled to the network for retrieving and storing file control information and at least one file, said network storage device comprising; a disk manager for managing file maintenance procedures of said network storage device, said disk manager including; an admission controller, operable in response to a file request from a multimedia client for a file operation upon a selected file, to control admission of said file request; a disk status determiner, activable in response to a disk bandwidth request from the admission controller, to determine the available disk bandwidth; a network manager located on one of said network storage devices for providing network services, said network manager including a network status table for providing the available network bandwidth in response to a network bandwidth request from the admission controller; wherein, said admission controller, in response to said file request, sends said network bandwidth request and said disk bandwidth request to determine whether said available network bandwidth and said available disk bandwidth are sufficient to support the requested file operation.

Claim 46

A file system for a multi-media storage system operable to communicate information over a network with a plurality of clients, said network having an available network bandwidth, the file system comprising: a network storage device having an available disk bandwidth coupled to the network for retrieving and storing file control information and at least one file, said network storage device comprising; a disk manager for managing file maintenance procedures of said network storage device, said disk manager including; an admission controller, operable in response to a file request from a multimedia client for a file operation upon a selected file, to control admission of said file request; a disk status determiner, activable in response to a disk bandwidth request from the admission controller, to determine the available disk bandwidth; a network manager located on one of said network storage devices for providing network services, said network manager including a network status table for providing the available network bandwidth in response to a network bandwidth request from the admission controller; wherein, said admission controller, in response to said file request, sends said network bandwidth request and said disk bandwidth request to determine whether said available network bandwidth and said available disk bandwidth are sufficient to support the requested file operation.

Claim 47

The file system of claim 37 further comprising a system metadata table for providing a disk location of said at least one files, wherein said client queries the system metadata table to determine the disk where the selected file is located.

Claim 48

The file system of claim 37 wherein said at least on file manager further comprises a write lock manager, operable to prevent more than one said at least one-client from simultaneously writing to said selected file.

Claim 49

The file system of claim 39 wherein the write lock manager further comprises a write circular buffer for storing a write request for said selected file such that said write request is serviced on a first stored first served basis.

Claim 50

The file system of claim 39 wherein the write lock manager further comprises a read circular buffer for storing a read request for said selected file such that said read request is serviced on a first stored first served basis.

Claim 51

The file system of claim 37 further comprising a network manager mirror corresponding to each of said network mangers.

Claim 52

The file system of claim 37 further comprising a cluster manager mirror corresponding to each of said cluster managers.

Claim 53

The file system of claim 37 further comprising a security manager for limiting access to said at least one network storage device by said at least one client.