Distributed virtual storage of portable media files

• US 10,303,783 B2
• Filed: 10/12/2009
• Issued: 05/28/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Callplex Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Callplex Incorporated
• Inventors: Sarakas, Stephen T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Harper, Eliyah S
• Application Number:
  US12/577,404
• Publication Number:
  US 20100030827A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,515 Days
• Field of Search: 707999001, 707999104, 707754
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/188 Virtual file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/30018 Bit or string instructions

Abstract

Storing a file on a virtual file system associated with a portable media drive. The virtual file system includes the portable media drive and allocated storage of a plurality of storage servers. The file is partitioned into a local portion and at least one remote portion. The local portion is stored on the portable media drive and the remote portions are transferred to a process server. The process server treats each portion as an independent file and stores it to an appropriate storage server without reference to the original file, to other portions, or to the user. For a virtually compressed file, the storage size of the file on the virtual file system is calculated as a function of the storage size of the local portion on the portable media drive.

Claims

1. A method of inherently securing files for distributed storage across a plurality of storage devices, wherein one or more processors execute a plurality of computer executable instructions stored on a tangible, non-transitory computer storage medium for performing the method, said method comprising:

determining whether the one or more processors can access a local storage device;

in response to determining the one or more processors cannot access the local storage device, terminating said method; and

in response to determining the one or more processors can access the local storage device;

determining a number of portions in which a file will be stored based on a predetermined maximum portion length as a function of a packet size of the local storage device connected to the one or more processors and the tangible, non-transitory computer storage medium;

calculating a portion length for each of the portions based on a set of length constraints that define an interrelationship between the portions based on their respective lengths;

partitioning the file into the determined number of portions according to the calculated portion length of each portion, each partitioned portion having a content, said partitioned portions including a terminal portion;

performing one or more logical operations between the content of each partitioned portion and the content of at least one other partitioned portion, said performance of logical operations starting at a first bit of the content of each partitioned portion and proceeding bitwise to subsequent bits of the content along the length of each partitioned portion;

modifying each partitioned portion by replacing the content thereof with results of said logical operations;

assigning a unique name to each modified portion other than the terminal portion, said unique name of each modified portion indicative of the content of at least one other modified portion;

storing the terminal portion on the local storage device; and

transferring all other modified portions to a remote storage through a communication network, wherein the remote storage is other than the local storage device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating a portion length comprises non-deterministically varying a portion length within a range specified by the set of constraints for each of the determined number of portions.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said performing one or more logical operations comprises selecting the at least one other partitioned portion such that the portion length of the at least one other partitioned portion is equal to or greater than the portion length of the each partitioned portion to be modified.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said logical operations comprises Exclusive OR performed between the content of each partitioned portion and the content of at least one other partitioned portion.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising transforming the copied file prior to said partitioning, wherein the partitioned portions are sequentially modified, so that for a transformed file having been partitioned into first, second, and terminal portions, said first portion being not larger than a combination of the second and terminal portion, said terminal portion larger than the second portion:

the first portion is modified by replacing the content of the first portion with results of logical operations performed between the content of the first portion and the content of the second portion and the terminal portion,

the second portion is modified by replacing the content of the second portion with results of logical operations performed between the content of the second portion and the content of terminal portion, and

the terminal portion is modified by replacing the content of the terminal portion with results of logical operations performed between the content of the terminal portion and the content of modified first portion.

6. The method of claim 5, said assigning a unique name comprising assigning the first portion a unique name indicative of the content of the second and terminal portions, and assigning the second portion a unique name indicative of the content of the terminal portion, said unique names being masked and said mask being stored as a part of the file within the virtual file system.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

copying the terminal portion into memory;

iteratively retrieving first and second portions in reverse sequential order beginning with the second portion and ending with the first portion, said iteratively retrieving further comprising reading the content of a combination of all retrieved portions to determine the next portion to retrieve;

reversing the logical operations performed on each retrieved portion;

combining all reversed portions into the transformed file; and

reverse transforming the transformed file to reconstruct the copied file.

8. A method of inherently securing files for distributed storage across a plurality of storage devices, wherein one or more processors execute a plurality of computer executable instructions stored on a tangible, non-transitory computer storage medium for performing the method, said method comprising:

sequentially generating a plurality of portions of a file to be stored, wherein the plurality of portions comprise a remainder portion and one or more remote portions, said sequentially generating comprising, for each remote portion of the file to be generated;

determining a portion length for each remote portion of the file and the remainder portion of the file based on a set of length constraints that define an interrelationship between all portions of the plurality of portions based on their lengths, wherein the length constraints are independent of a graphical representation on a visual display of a target device;

dividing the file into the one or more remote portions each having content and the remainder portion having content, wherein the content of each portion of the plurality of portions comprises data from the file;

performing an Exclusive OR logical operation between a bit comprising the content of one of the remote portions and a bit comprising the content of the remainder portion;

modifying the one of the remote portions by replacing the bit comprising the content thereof with a result of the Exclusive OR logical operation;

repeating said performing and said modifying from a first end of the content of the remote portion and proceeding bitwise to each subsequent bit along the length of the content thereof;

assigning a unique name to the modified remote portion as a function of the content of the remainder portion; and

storing the modified remote portion to a remote storage other than the local storage.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the portion length comprises non-deterministically varying the portion length of the remote portion within a range.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the determined portion length of each remote portion is equal to or smaller than the determined portion length of the remainder portion.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

generating remote portions from the remainder portion until the remainder portion is shortened to a length equal to or smaller than a terminal length;

determining a number of additional portions into which the shortened remainder portion will be partitioned;

calculating a portion length for each of the determined additional portions;

partitioning the shortened remainder portion into the determined number of additional portions according to the calculated portion length of each additional portion, each partitioned additional portion having a content, said partitioned additional portions including a terminal portion;

modifying each partitioned additional portion by replacing the content of each partitioned additional portion with results of logical operations performed between the content of each partitioned additional portion and the content of at least one other partitioned additional portion;

assigning a unique name to each modified additional portion other than the terminal portion, said unique name of each modified additional portion indicative of the content of at least one other modified additional portion;

storing the terminal portion to the local storage; and

storing all other modified additional portions to the remote storage.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein said copying comprises incrementally copying the file into a file segment until the length of the file segment is sufficient to separate a next portion.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein incrementally copying the file comprises specifying a plurality of stations of the file and further comprises randomly selecting one of the plurality of stations for said incrementally copying.

14. A system for implementing distributed file storage, said system comprising:

a client device of a user, said client device having a processor configured for;

determining a number of portions into which a file will be stored based on a predetermined maximum portion length as a function of a packet size of a local storage device connected to the clien device;

calculating a portion length for each of the determined number of portions based on a set of length constraints that define an interrelationship between all portions based on their lengths, wherein each calculated portion contains data from the file, and wherein the constraints are independent of a graphical representation on a visual display of a target device, said calculating performed concurrently with said determining based on said constraints;

partitioning the file into the determined number of portions according to the calculated portion length of each portion, each partitioned portion having a content, said partitioned portions including a terminal portion;

performing one or more logical operations between the content of each partitioned portion and the content of at least one other partitioned portion, said performance of logical operations starting at a first end of the content of each partitioned portion and proceeding bitwise to subsequent bits of the content along the length of each partitioned portion;

modifying each partitioned portion by replacing the content thereof with results of said logical operations, wherein the data necessary for formatting each modified portion is contained within the original source file, and wherein the file is capable of reassembly after reacquiring the modified partitioned portions;

assigning a unique name to each modified portion other than the terminal portion, said unique name of each modified portion indicative of the content of at least one other modified portion; and

storing the terminal portion on the local storage device;

one or more storage servers; and

a process server in communication with the client device and with the one or more storage servers through a communication network, said process server configured for;

receiving, through the communication network, all portions other than the terminal portion from the client device for storage; and

storing the received portions to the one or more storage servers through the communication network.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the process server is further configured for storing each of the received portions in any of the one or more storage servers without reference to other received portions, without reference to the copied file, and without reference to the user.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the process server is further configured for storing each of the received portions independent of operations performed on the client device.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein modifying each partitioned portion comprises selecting the at least one other partitioned portion such that the portion length of the at least one other partitioned portion is greater than the portion length of the partitioned portion to be modified.