# US 12,117,972 B2 · File server managers and systems for managing virtualized file servers > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,117,972 B2 - Document ID: US12117972B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/581,418 - Filed: 2022-01-21 - Published: 2023-02-23 - Granted: 2024-10-15 - Earliest claimed: 2021-08-19 - Assignees: Nutanix, Inc. - Applicants: Nutanix, Inc. - Inventors: Anil Kumar Gopalapura Venkatesh; Kalpesh Ashok Bafna; Manoj Premanand Naik; Mausumi Ranasingh - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12117972B2 ## CPC - G06F 16/188: Virtual file systems - G06F 9/45558: {Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects} - G06F 16/164: {File meta data generation} - G06F 16/178: Techniques for file synchronisation in file systems - G06F 16/1824: {implemented using Network-attached Storage [NAS] architecture (distributed or networked storage systems G06F3/067; protocols for distributed storage of data in a network H04L67/1097)} - G06F 2009/45579: {I/O management, e.g. providing access to device drivers or storage} - G06F 2009/45595: {Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances} - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract An example file server manager disclosed herein receives a registration for a distributed file server, where the distributed file server is hosted in a virtualization environment and includes a cluster of file server virtual machines configured to provide access to a file system. The file server manager further synchronizes metadata with the distributed file server, the metadata including identification of each of the file server virtual machines of the cluster of file server virtual machines, the metadata including information regarding the file system and receiving a management request for the distributed file server. The file server manager further formats the management request for the virtualization environment based on the metadata and utilizing information from the registration to access the distributed file server with the formatted management request. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A file server manager comprising: at least one processor; and non-transitory computer readable media encoded with instructions; the file server manager, being separate from and having access to a plurality of virtual file servers, being configured to, based on execution of the instructions by the at least one processor, perform actions comprising: receive a registration for a distributed file server of the plurality of virtual file servers, the distributed file server hosted in a virtualization environment and including a plurality of file server virtual machines configured to access a file system; synchronize metadata with the distributed file server, the metadata including information regarding the file system; receive, at the file server manager and via an application programming interface (API) call, a platform-agnostic management request; determine, by the file server manager, that the management request is for the distributed file server of the plurality of virtual file servers based at least on a type of the management request, wherein the type of each management request comprises a platform-specific request, a user-specific request, a service-specific request, or any combination of each type of management request; and redirect the management request to the distributed file server by formatting the management request to be specific to the virtualization environment of the determined distributed file server based on the metadata. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The file server manager of claim 1, wherein the plurality of file server virtual machines are hosted on a cloud computing system. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The file server manager of claim 1, wherein the file server manager is further configured to, based on execution of the instructions: receive a registration for a second distributed file server, the second distributed file server hosted in a second virtualization environment; and synchronize additional metadata with the second distributed file server. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The file server manager of claim 3, wherein the distributed file server is located in a different geographic area than the second distributed file server. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The file server manager of claim 3, wherein the file server manager is further configured to, based on execution of the instructions: implement a cross-file server policy including utilizing the distributed file server as a source file server and the second distributed file server as a destination file server. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The file server manager of claim 1, wherein the metadata includes a mapping of shares of the virtualized file server to the file server virtual machines of the plurality of file server virtual machines hosting the respective shares of the virtualized file server. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The file server manager of claim 1, wherein the file server manager is hosted on a cloud computing system separate from the virtualization environment hosting the distributed file server. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The file server manager of claim 1, wherein said receive the registration comprises determining the distributed file server is hosted on a same domain as the file server manager. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The file server manager of claim 1, wherein said receive the registration comprises receiving a communication from an operating system of a computing node hosting at least one of the file server virtual machines. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The file server manager of claim 1, wherein the metadata comprises identification of each of the file server virtual machines, and wherein identification of each of the file server virtual machines includes respective Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and authentication credentials for the plurality of file server virtual machines. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The file server manager of claim 1, wherein the management request comprises the API call, the API call comprising a representational state transfer (REST) API call. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The file server manager of claim 1, wherein the plurality of file server virtual machines are hosted at a plurality of computing nodes, wherein the file system of the distributed file server includes storage items stored at a storage pool including local storage devices of the plurality of computing nodes. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The file server manager of claim 12, wherein said synchronize metadata comprises synchronize information about the storage pool of the distributed file server with a database accessible to the file server manager. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The file server manager of claim 1, wherein the API call is received from an administrator using an interface to the file server manager, from a computing system in communication with the file server manager, from an automation script executing on the computing system in communication with the file server manager, from a container, from a user virtual machine, or combinations thereof. ### Claim 15 At least one non-transitory computer readable media encoded with instructions for a system to perform actions comprising: receive, at a file server manager, a registration for a distributed file server of a plurality of virtual file servers, the distributed file server hosted in a virtualization environment and including a plurality of file server virtual machines configured to access a file system, the file server manager being separate from and having access to the plurality of virtual file servers; synchronize, via the file server manager, metadata with the distributed file server, the metadata including information regarding the file system; receive, at the file server manager and via an application programming interface (API) call, a platform-agnostic management request; determine, by the file server manager, that the management request is for the distributed file server of the plurality of virtual file servers based at least on a type of the management request, wherein the type of each management request comprises a platform-specific request, a user-specific request, a service-specific request, or any combination of each type of management request; and redirect, by the file server manager, the management request to the distributed file server by formatting the management request to be specific to the virtualization environment of the determined distributed file server based on the metadata. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein the actions further comprise: receive a registration for a second distributed file server, the second distributed file server hosted in a second virtualization environment; and synchronize additional metadata with the second distributed file server. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of claim 16, wherein actions further comprise: implement a cross-file server policy including utilizing the distributed file server as a source file server and the second distributed file server as a destination file server. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of claim 16, wherein actions further comprise: display a user interface depicting both the distributed file server and the second distributed file server. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein said receive the registration comprises receiving a communication from an operating system of a computing node hosting at least one of the file server virtual machines. ### Claim 20 (depends on 15) The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein the metadata comprises identification of each of the file server virtual machines, and wherein the identification of each of the file server virtual machines comprises receive respective Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and authentication credentials for the plurality of file server virtual machines. ### Claim 21 (depends on 15) The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein the management request comprises the API call, the API call comprising a representational state transfer (REST) API call. ### Claim 22 (depends on 15) The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein the metadata includes a mapping of shares of the virtualized file server to the file server virtual machines of the plurality of file server virtual machines hosting the respective shares of the virtualized file server. ### Claim 23 (depends on 15) The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein the plurality of file server virtual machines are hosted at a plurality of computing nodes, wherein the file system of the distributed file server includes storage items stored at a storage pool including local storage devices of the plurality of computing nodes. ### Claim 24 (depends on 23) The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of claim 23, wherein said synchronize metadata comprises synchronize information about the storage pool of the distributed file server with a database accessible to the file server manager. ### Claim 25 (depends on 15) The at least one non-transitory computer readable media of claim 15, wherein the API call is received from an administrator using an interface to the file server manager, from a computing system in communication with the file server manager, from an automation script executing on the computing system in communication with the file server manager, from a container, from a user virtual machine, or combinations thereof. ### Claim 26 A method comprising: registering multiple virtualized distributed file servers with a file server manager, the file server manager being separate from and having access to the multiple virtualized distributed file servers, wherein a first virtualized distributed file server of the multiple virtualized distributed file servers is hosted on a virtualization environment including a plurality of file server virtual machines configured to access a file system; synchronizing, by the file server manager, metadata of the virtualized distributed file servers to a database of the file server manager, the metadata of the first virtualized distributed file server including information regarding the file system; receiving, via an application programming interface (API) call, a platform-agnostic management request at the file server manager; determining, by the file server manager, that the management request if for the first virtualized distributed file server of the multiple virtualized distributed file servers based at least on a type of the management request, wherein the type of each management request comprises a platform-specific request, a user-specific request, a service-specific request, or any combination of each type of management request; formatting, based on the metadata, the management request for the first virtualized distributed file server in accordance with the virtualized environment in which the first virtualized distributed file server is implemented; and directing, by the file server manager, the management request to the first virtualized distributed file server. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The method of claim 26, wherein the method further comprises implement a cross-file server policy impacting at least two of the multiple virtualized distributed file servers. ### Claim 28 (depends on 26) The method of claim 26, further comprising: displaying a user interface depicting the multiple virtualized distributed file servers. ### Claim 29 (depends on 26) The method of claim 26, wherein at least one of the virtualized, distributed file servers comprises the plurality of file server virtual machines. ### Claim 30 (depends on 26) The method of claim 26, wherein each of the multiple virtualized distributed file servers access a respective file system. ### Claim 31 (depends on 26) The method of claim 26, wherein the management request comprises the API call, the API call comprising a representational state transfer (REST) API call. ### Claim 32 (depends on 26) The method of claim 26, wherein the plurality of file server virtual machines of the first virtualized distributed file server are hosted at a plurality of computing nodes, wherein the file system of the virtualized distributed file server includes storage items stored at a storage pool including local storage devices of the plurality of computing nodes. ### Claim 33 (depends on 32) The method of claim 32, wherein said synchronize metadata comprises synchronize information about the storage pool of the first virtualized distributed file server with a database accessible to the file server manager. ### Claim 34 (depends on 26) The method of claim 26 wherein, the API call is received from an administrator using an interface to the file server manager, from a computing system in communication with the file server manager, from an automation script executing on the computing system in communication with the file server manager, from a container, from a user virtual machine, or combinations thereof.