# US 2014/0195482 A1 · Data synchronization in a storage network > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0195482 A1 - Document ID: US20140195482A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 14/137,691 - Filed: 2013-12-20 - Published: 2014-07-10 - Earliest claimed: 2013-01-08 - Applicants: Lyve Minds, Inc. - Inventors: Christian M. Kaiser; Julie A. Pitt; Rick Pasetto; Stephen Sewerynek - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140195482A1 ## CPC - G06F 3/0631: {by allocating resources to storage systems} - G06F 3/0604: {Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management} - G06F 3/0608: {Saving storage space on storage systems} - G06F 3/0613: {in relation to throughput} - G06F 3/0619: {in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors} - G06F 3/064: {Management of blocks} - G06F 3/0649: {Lifecycle management} - G06F 3/065: {Replication mechanisms} - G06F 3/0653: {Monitoring storage devices or systems} - G06F 3/067: {Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]} - G06F 11/00: Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring (error detection, correction or monitoring in information storage based on relative movement between record carrier and transducer G11B20/18; monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing G11B27/36; in static stores G11C29/00) - G06F 12/023: {Free address space management} - G06F 16/178: Techniques for file synchronisation in file systems - G06F 16/275: {Synchronous replication} - H04L 67/1097: for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS] - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract A method of synchronizing data may include receiving, by a first storage agent, a recent second-agent synchronization point. The recent second-agent synchronization point may be associated with a recent second-agent synchronization time of a second-agent synchronization between a second storage agent and a third storage agent. The method may further include determining, based on the recent second-agent synchronization point, a first-agent baseline synchronization point. The first-agent baseline synchronization point may be associated with a first-agent baseline synchronization time of a first-agent synchronization between the first storage agent and the third storage agent that occurred before the second-agent synchronization time. Additionally, the method may include establishing a first-agent baseline of synchronization of data between the first storage agent and the second storage agent based on the first-agent baseline synchronization point. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of synchronizing data, the method comprising: receiving, by a first storage agent, a recent second-agent synchronization point associated with a recent second-agent synchronization time of a second-agent synchronization between a second storage agent and a third storage agent; determining, based on the recent second-agent synchronization point, a first-agent baseline synchronization point associated with a first-agent baseline synchronization time of a first-agent synchronization between the first storage agent and the third storage agent that occurred before the second-agent synchronization time; and establishing a first-agent baseline of synchronization of data between the first storage agent and the second storage agent based on the first-agent baseline synchronization point. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising determining data that was updated by the first storage agent after the first-agent baseline synchronization time based on the first-agent baseline. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, further comprising communicating, to the second storage agent, the data that was updated by the first storage agent after the first-agent baseline synchronization time. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the recent second-agent synchronization point is associated with a most recent second-agent synchronization between the second storage agent and the third storage agent. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first-agent baseline synchronization point is associated with a latest first-agent synchronization between the first storage agent and the third storage agent that occurred before the recent second-agent synchronization time. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, by the first storage agent to the second storage agent, a recent first-agent synchronization point associated with a recent first-agent synchronization time of a recent first-agent synchronization between the first storage agent and the third storage agent; receiving, by the first storage agent from the second storage agent, data that was updated by the second storage agent after the recent first-agent synchronization time as determined based on a second-agent baseline related to a second-agent baseline synchronization point associated with a second-agent baseline synchronization time of the second storage agent with the third storage agent that occurred before the recent first-agent synchronization time; and reconciling the data received from the second storage agent with corresponding data stored on the first storage agent. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the reconciling comprises: determining whether the received data is older than the corresponding data stored on the first storage agent; when the received data is older than the corresponding data, ignoring the received data; and when the received data is newer than the corresponding data, replacing the corresponding data with the received data. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the recent second-agent synchronization point includes one or more of: version numbers of the second storage agents and the third storage agent, identifiers of the second storage agent and the third storage agent, and locally-assigned version numbers of the data involved in the second-agent synchronization between the second storage agent and the third storage agent. ### Claim 9 A method of synchronizing data, the method comprising: transmitting, by a first storage agent to a second storage agent, a recent first-agent synchronization point associated with a recent first-agent synchronization time of a first-agent synchronization between the first storage agent with a third storage agent; receiving, by the first storage agent from the second storage agent, data that was updated by the second storage agent as determined based on a second-agent baseline that is established based on a second-agent baseline synchronization point associated with a second-agent baseline synchronization time of a second-agent baseline synchronization of the second storage agent with the third storage agent that occurred before the recent first-agent synchronization time; and reconciling the data received from the second storage agent with corresponding data stored on the first storage agent. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the recent first-agent synchronization point is associated with a most recent first-agent synchronization between the first storage agent and the third storage agent. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the second-agent baseline synchronization point is associated with a latest second-agent synchronization between the second storage agent and the third storage agent that occurred before the first-agent synchronization time. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the reconciling comprises: determining whether the received data is older than the corresponding data stored on the first storage agent; when the received data is older than the corresponding data, ignoring the received data; and when the received data is newer than the corresponding data, replacing the corresponding data with the received data. ### Claim 13 A computer-readable storage medium including instructions that cause a system to perform operations to allocate data to a storage agent of a storage network, the operations comprising: receiving, by a first storage agent, a recent second-agent synchronization point associated with a recent second-agent synchronization time of a second-agent synchronization between a second storage agent and a third storage agent; determining, based on the recent second-agent synchronization point, a first-agent baseline synchronization point associated with a first-agent baseline synchronization time of a first-agent synchronization between the first storage agent and the third storage agent that occurred before the second-agent synchronization time; and establishing a first-agent baseline of synchronization of data between the first storage agent and the second storage agent based on the first-agent baseline synchronization point. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise determining data that was updated by the first storage agent after the first-agent baseline synchronization time based on the first-agent baseline. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise communicating, to the second storage agent, the data that was updated by the first storage agent after the first-agent baseline synchronization time. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the recent second-agent synchronization point is associated with a most recent second-agent synchronization between the second storage agent and the third storage agent. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the first-agent baseline synchronization point is associated with a latest first-agent synchronization between the first storage agent and the third storage agent that occurred before the recent second-agent synchronization time. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise: transmitting, by the first storage agent to the second storage agent, a recent first-agent synchronization point associated with a recent first-agent synchronization time of a recent first-agent synchronization between the first storage agent and the third storage agent; receiving, by the first storage agent from the second storage agent, data that was updated by the second storage agent after the recent first-agent synchronization time as determined based on a second-agent baseline related to a second-agent baseline synchronization point associated with a second-agent baseline synchronization time of the second storage agent with the third storage agent that occurred before the recent first-agent synchronization time; and reconciling the data received from the second storage agent with corresponding data stored on the first storage agent. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the reconciling comprises: determining whether the received data is older than the corresponding data stored on the first storage agent; when the received data is older than the corresponding data, ignoring the received data; and when the received data is newer than the corresponding data, replacing the corresponding data with the received data. ### Claim 20 (depends on 13) The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the recent second-agent synchronization point includes one or more of: version numbers of the second storage agents and the third storage agent, identifiers of the second storage agent and the third storage agent, and locally-assigned version numbers of the data involved in the second-agent synchronization between the second storage agent and the third storage agent.