Identifying data items

A method for identifying data items in a plurality of data items stored at a data item storage system, the method comprising:

• receiving, at the data item storage system, data indicating an aspect threshold,
• wherein each data item in said plurality of data items has an associated aspect,
• wherein identifying data items comprises identifying those data items in said plurality that have an aspect greater or less than an aspect threshold,
• wherein said data items are associated with one of a plurality of tokens, each token being associated with a respective bound limit, tokens being allocated successively in a monotonic sequence, and
• wherein information relating to each data item is stored using at least one of a plurality of files in a network file system, each file having a file name, file content and an aspect that corresponds to the aspect of said data item, wherein information relating to the token of each data item is stored in the file name of at least one of the plurality of files storing the information relating to that data item;
• identifying, at the data item storage system, a token that is associated with one or more data items related to said aspect threshold by the bound limit, and
• identifying data items having an aspect greater or less than said aspect threshold based on the identified token.

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon, the computer-readable instructions being executable by a computerized device to cause the computerized device to perform a method for identifying updated data items in a plurality of data items stored at a data item storage system, the method comprising:

• receiving, at the data item storage system, data indicating a last synchronization time,
• wherein each data item in the plurality of data items has an associated update time,
• wherein identifying updated data items comprises identifying those data items in the plurality of data items that have an update time later than the last synchronization time,
• wherein the data items are updated such that each data item is associated with one of a plurality of update tokens, each update token being associated with updates performed up to an end of a respective bound period that commences at a time at which the update token is superseded by a successive update token,
• wherein information relating to each data item is stored using at least one of a plurality of files in a network file system, each file having a file name, file content and a last modified time that corresponds to the update time of said data item, wherein information relating to the update token of each data item is stored in the file name of at least one of the plurality of files storing the information relating to that data item, and
• wherein the update tokens are allocated successively in a monotonic sequence;
• identifying, at the data item storage system, an update token that is associated with one or more updates performed relative to a point in time related to the last synchronization time by the bound period;
• and
• identifying, at the data item storage system, data items having an update time after said last synchronization time based on said identified update token.

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon, the computer-readable instructions being executable by a computerized device to cause the computerized device to perform a method for identifying data items in a plurality of data items at a data item storage system, the method comprising:

• receiving, at the data item storage system, data indicating an aspect threshold,
• wherein each data item in said plurality of data items has an associated aspect,
• wherein identifying data items comprises identifying those data items in said plurality that have an aspect greater or less than an aspect threshold,
• wherein said data items are associated with one of a plurality of tokens, each token being associated with a respective bound limit, tokens being allocated successively in a monotonic sequence, and
• wherein information relating to each data item is stored using at least one of a plurality of files in a network file system, each file having a file name, file content and an aspect that corresponds to the aspect of said data item, wherein information relating to the token of each data item is stored in the file name of at least one of the plurality of files storing the information relating to that data item;
• identifying, at the data item storage system, a token that is associated with one or more data items related to said aspect threshold by the bound limit, and
• identifying data items having an aspect greater or less than said aspect threshold based on the identified token.

An apparatus for identifying updated data items in a plurality of data items at a data item storage system, the apparatus comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory including computer program code,
• wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer program code in order to cause the apparatus to:
• receive, at the data item storage system, data indicating a last synchronization time,
• wherein each data item in the plurality of data items has an associated update time,
• wherein identifying updated data items comprises identifying those data items in the plurality of data items that have an update time later than the last synchronization time,
• wherein the data items are updated such that each data item is associated with one of a plurality of update tokens, each update token being associated with updates performed up to an end of a respective bound period that commences at a time at which the update token is superseded by a successive update token,
• wherein information relating to each data item is stored using at least one of a plurality of files in a network file system, each file having a file name, file content and a last modified time that corresponds to the update time of said data item, wherein information relating to the update token of each data item is stored in the file name of at least one of the plurality of files storing the information relating to that data item, and
• wherein the update tokens are allocated successively in a monotonic sequence;
• identify, at the data item storage system, an update token that is associated with one or more updates performed relative to a point in time related to the last synchronization time by the bound period;
• and
• identify, at the data item storage system, data items having an update time after said last synchronization time based on said identified update token.

An apparatus for identifying data items in a plurality of data items at a data item storage system, the apparatus comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory including computer program code,
• wherein the processor is configured to execute computer program code in order to cause the apparatus to:
• receive, at the data item storage system, data indicating an aspect threshold,
• wherein each data item in said plurality of data items has an associated aspect,
• wherein identifying data items comprises identifying those data items in said plurality that have an aspect greater or less than an aspect threshold,
• wherein said data items are associated with one of a plurality of tokens, each token being associated with a respective bound limit, tokens being allocated successively in a monotonic sequence, and
• wherein information relating to each data item is stored using at least one of a plurality of files in a network file system, each file having a file name, file content and an aspect that corresponds to the aspect of said data item, wherein information relating to the token of each data item is stored in the file name of at least one of the plurality of files storing the information relating to that data item;
• identify, at the data item storage system, a token that is associated with one or more data items related to said aspect threshold by the bound limit, and
• identify data items having an aspect greater or less than said aspect threshold based on the identified token.