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US 2003/0191761 A1Published application
Methods and apparatus for remote file access
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorJohn Linus Bauer
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AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorJohn Linus Bauer
Estimating the term…
In a first aspect, a first computer stores a first application program, a remote data access program module and a first operating system program. A second computer stores a server application program and a second operating system program. A data communication channel connects the first computer to the second computer. A file access command that is applicable to a data file stored at the second computer is issued from the application program at the first computer. The file access command is transmitted from the remote data access program module to the server application program via the first and second operating system programs. The server application program executes the file access command with respect to the data file stored at the second computer by means of a suitable call to the second operating system program. The file access command may be a write command or a read command.
A method of using a first computer to access data stored in a second computer that is connected to the first computer via a data communication channel, the method comprising:
A method of using a first computer to access data stored in a second computer that is connected to the first computer via a data communication channel, the method comprising:
A method of using a first computer to access data stored in a second computer that is connected to the first computer via a data communication channel, the method comprising:
A method of using a first computer to access data stored in a second computer that is connected to the first computer via a data communication channel, the method comprising:
An apparatus comprising:
An apparatus comprising:
An apparatus comprising:
An apparatus comprising:
A computer program product comprising:
A computer program product comprising:
A computer program product comprising:
A computer program product comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Interprogram communication: buffers; Shared memory; Pipes
Interprogram communication: remote procedure calls [RPC]; Web services
Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor: file systems; File servers
Protocols: specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
Term end not estimated
The present invention is concerned with computer systems, and is more particularly concerned with transfer of data between two computers.
A prior art technique for transferring files from one computer to another is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows a host computer 10, and a client computer 12 connected to the host computer 10 via a data communication channel 14. An operating system program 16 is stored in the host computer 10, and an operating system program 18 is stored in the client computer 12. In the particular prior art arrangement shown in FIG. 1, it is assumed that both of the operating system programs 16 and 18 are the well-known AIX operating system, which is derived from Unix, and may include a portion referred to as “NFS”, which stands for “Network File System”. Reference numeral 20 indicates the NFS portions of the operating systems 16, 18. As is familiar to those who are skilled in the art, NFS handles transfer of files between computers.
It is further assumed with respect to the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 that the client computer 12 stores an application program 22 that needs to access a file or files stored in a file system 24 associated with the host computer 10. To obtain access to a file at the host computer 10, the application program 22 makes suitable program calls to the NFS portion 20 of the client operating system program 18. The NFS portion 20 of the client operating system program 18 cooperates with the NFS portion 20 of the host operating system program 16 to handle transfers of data between the host computer 10 and the client computer 12 via the data communication channel 14.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional arrangement for effecting file transfers between remote computers;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of interconnected remote computers provided in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a structure of software stored in accordance with the invention in the computers of FIG. 2; and
The present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 2-4.
FIG. 2 shows a host computer 110 connected to a client computer 112 via a data communication channel 114. The host computer 110 and the client computer 112 may be, for example, RS-6000 computers available from International Business Machines Corporation, the assignee of the present invention. Alternatively, the host computer 110 and the client computer 112 may be based on Intel processors operating with the Linux operating system or may be any type of Unix systems. Any other suitable computer and/or operating systems may be employed. It is not necessary that the host computer 110 be of the same type as the client computer 112. It is also not necessary that the host computer 110 be operated with the same type of operating system as the client computer 112.
The data communication channel may be, for example, a gigabit Ethernet connection, but may alternatively be any other type of data communication channel.