Storage management for ephemeral messages

• US 10,200,327 B1
• Filed: 01/22/2018
• Issued: 02/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Snap, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Snap, Inc.
• Inventors: Son, Aaron
• Primary Examiner(s): Tokuta, Shean
• Assistant Examiner(s): Duong, Thao D
• Application Number:
  US15/877,037
• Time in Patent Office: 379 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes

Abstract

A storage controller processes electronic messages by partitioning a storage device into logical disks and designating a logical disk as unavailable based on its storage capacity being fully used. A time is assigned to each logical disk that is available for writing, and an estimated deletion time is determined for an electronic message. The electronic message is stored in a logical disk that is identified by comparing the assigned times of the logical disks to the estimated deletion time of the electronic message. The electronic message may be deleted based on the detection of a triggering event. If a deletion of a message results in an unavailable logical disk having more than a threshold amount of unused storage capacity, then each of the electronic messages stored in the unavailable logical disk may be copied to a logical disk available for writing and the unavailable designation may be removed from the logical disk.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

at least one hardware processor configured to;

assign an individual time to each of a plurality of logical disks, each time indicating when the respective logical disk is available for writing;

select one of the plurality of logical disks having an assigned time closest to an estimated deletion time of an electronic message or having an assigned time closest to the estimated deletion time of the electronic message without being earlier than the estimated deletion time of the electronic message; and

store the electronic message on the selected logical disk;

marking each of the plurality of logical disks as unavailable in response to an amount of data stored on the logical disk exceeding a first size threshold;

in response to the amount of data stored on the logical disk decreasing below a second size threshold lower than the first size threshold;

copying electronic messages stored on the logical disk to a different logical disk,

deleting the electronic messages stored on the logical disk, and

clearing an unavailable designation from the logical disk.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to delete the electronic message in response to the electronic message being read by a recipient of the electronic message, responded to by a recipient of the electronic message or copied to a storage device by a recipient of the electronic message.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one hardware processor is configured to perform the following to copy each of the electronic messages stored in the unavailable logical disk to the different logical disk:

determine a new estimated deletion time for the electronic message;

compare the assigned time of each logical disk available for writing to the new estimated deletion time of the electronic message; and

store the electronic message in the different logical disk that is identified based on the comparing.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the new estimated deletion time for each of the electronic messages stored in an unavailable logical disk is determined based on the number of times each electronic message has been copied by the storage controller.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one hardware processor is configured to determine the estimated deletion time for the electronic message from a sender to a recipient based on historical information regarding behavior of the recipient.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the historical information includes information regarding the behavior of the recipient in regard to electronic messages:

from the sender, including a type of electronic media, received at a specific time, received at a specific location, received with a specific device, or of a specific size.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the historical information includes information regarding the behavior of the recipient in regard to electronic messages from users of the network determined to be similar to the sender based on:

user location, user device or user behavior.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the historical information includes information regarding the behavior of the recipient in regard to electronic messages including content determined to be similar to content of the electronic message based on:

image recognition, semantic analysis, tools used to create the content or user interface provided to view the content.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to select a logical disk with an assigned time later than the estimated deletion time.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one hardware processor is further configured to:

estimate a number of new messages received within a time period;

estimate an amount of storage to store the new messages at a time later than the time period;

assign a time to a logical disk based on the estimates; and

select the logical disk for storage of the new messages based on the assigned time.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the selection of one of the plurality of logical disks is performed for a plurality of electronic messages based on estimated deletion time of the electronic message, and the at least one hardware processor is configured to store each of the plurality of electronic messages on the logical disk selected for the message.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the estimated deletion time for each of the electronic messages is set by a sending user of the electronic message.

13. A method for storing electronic messages sent between users of a network, the method comprising:

assigning an individual time to each of a plurality of logical disks;

selecting one of the plurality of logical disks having an assigned time closest to an estimated deletion time of an electronic message or having an assigned time closest to the estimated deletion time of the electronic message without being earlier than the estimated deletion time of the electronic message;

storing the electronic message in the selected logical disk;

marking each of the plurality of logical disks as unavailable in response to an amount of data stored on the logical disk exceeding a first size threshold;

in response to the amount of data stored on the logical disk decreasing below a second size threshold lower than the first size threshold;

copying electronic messages stored on the logical disk to a different logical disk,

deleting the electronic messages stored on the logical disk, and

clearing an unavailable designation from the logical disk.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

identifying at least one of the assigned times that is closest to the estimated deletion time or is closest to the estimated deletion time without being earlier than the estimated deletion time; and

the method further comprising;

deleting the electronic message in response to the electronic message being read by a recipient of the electronic message, responded to by a recipient of the electronic message or copied to a storage device by a recipient of the electronic message.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

copying each of the electronic messages stored in the unavailable logical disk to the different logical disk by;

determining a new estimated deletion time for the electronic message;

comparing the assigned time of each logical disk available for writing to the new estimated deletion time of the electronic message; and

storing the electronic message in the different logical disk that is identified based on the comparing.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising determining the estimated deletion time for the electronic message based on historical information regarding behavior of a recipient of the electronic message.

17. A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing program code for storing electronic messages sent between users of a network which, when executed, is operative to cause a machine to perform operations comprising:

assigning an individual time to each of a plurality of logical disks;

selecting one of the plurality of logical disks having an assigned time closest to an estimated deletion time of an electronic message or having an assigned time closest to the estimated deletion time of the electronic message without being earlier than the estimated deletion time of the electronic message;

storing the electronic message in the selected logical disk;

mark each of the plurality of logical disks as unavailable in response to an amount of data stored on the logical disk exceeding a first size threshold;

in response to the amount of data stored on the logical disk decreasing below a second size threshold lower than the first size threshold;

copying electronic messages stored on the logical disk to a different logical disk,

deleting the electronic messages stored on the logical disk, and

clearing an unavailable designation from the logical disk.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, the operations further comprising:

copying all of the electronic messages stored in the unavailable logical disk to the different logical disk by;

determining a new estimated deletion time for the electronic message;

comparing the assigned time of each logical disk to the new estimated deletion time of the electronic message; and

storing the electronic message in a logical disk that is identified based on the comparing.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, the operations further comprising

estimating a number of new messages received within a time period;

estimating an amount of storage to store the new messages at a time later than the time period;

assigning a time to a logical disk based on the estimates; and

selecting the logical disk for storage of the new messages based on the assigned time.