Scalable network-attached storage system
OwnerJames O'Reillyinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A Scalable Network-Attached Storage system, a Secure Scalable Network-Attached Storage system and a Peer-Based Storage Network all with high performance and scalability are described by this invention, which uses Dynamic Access Distribution to avoid scaling penalties.
Claims8
1) A means of building a Scalable Network-Attached Storage system where control of the data storage elements of said system is distributed over the computer elements of said system, so allowing said computer elements to access and control said data elements in a shared fashion whereby:
- a) Control of the data-storage sub-elements of a data storage element can reside in different computer elements, so allowing large numbers of computer elements to be used in the Scalable Network-Attached Storage system, and so allowing said system to be easily and economically expanded in size and performance and reconfigured to needs;
- b) Control of any such data storage sub-element can be replicated in several computer elements in such a way that these several computer elements can access said data sub-elements;
- c) Allocation to the set of computer elements of said control of access to said data elements and data sub-elements is initially established by a software functionality according to a set of user and computer generated policy rules;
- and where said software functionality adjusts said distribution of access control across said computer elements on a periodic basis, depending on metrics measured periodically throughout the Scalable Network-Attached Storage system
- d) Computer elements are specifically designated as the initial contact point for a client computer to the Scalable Network-Attached storage system, which designated computer elements have a software facility to determine that computer element having control of the data storage element that said client computer wishes to access and by means of said software facility re-direct said client computer to communicate directly with that computer element;
- e) Where the software facility of paragraph c) in claim 1) above detects the addition of new computer elements to the Scalable Network-Attached Storage system via the periodic metrics transmitted to said software facility by said new computer element;
- and thereby said software facility re-maps the allocation to said computer elements of access control of said data storage elements to make use of said new computer element;
- and where the loss of a computer element through failure or removal is detected by a loss of periodic metric data, so causing said software facility to re-map the allocation to the remaining computer elements of access control of those data storage elements previously controlled by said lost computer element;
6) An extension to the means in the above claims whereby a set of the data storage elements and computer elements in a Scalable Network-Attached Storage system are designated as a Secure Scalable Network-Attached Storage system, with the data storage elements being encrypted by the client computer, and with the file structure of said data elements being encrypted, and with communications between the client systems and the Scalable-Network-Attached storage system being encrypted.
7) An extension to the means in the above claims whereby those means are employed to take advantage of data storage elements in the client computers by using said data storage elements in part or in whole as data storage elements in a distributed form of Scalable Network-Attached Storage (here named Peer-Based Storage Network), where
- a) The data storage elements in any given client computer can be shared with other client computers under the control of the Scalable Network-Attached Storage software forming this invention, as extended to provide the Peer-Based Storage network capability, and with the features of replication and security as claimed above and described herein;
- b) Where software facilities are provided to allow designation of the amount of said data storage elements a client computer may wish to share;
- with software facilities to increase or decrease said amount as desired without causing loss of data to the client computers sharing the data storage elements being changed;
- c) Where replication and backup policies may be developed to protect automatically against loss of a client computer and/or its stored data on its data storage elements
8) An alternative construction of the invention whereby the computer elements of the Scalable Network-Attached Storage system, Secure Scalable Network-Attached Storage system or Peer-Based Storage Network in part or in whole are replaced by a storage network switching element or a local area network switching element or a communications switching element.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.