Cloud operating system and method

• US 10,362,109 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2016
• Issued: 07/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Task Performance Group, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Task Performance Group, Inc.
• Inventors: Merchant, Mushtaq H., Halim, Fakher
• Primary Examiner(s): Rubin, Blake J
• Application Number:
  US15/085,140
• Publication Number:
  US 20170289236A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,210 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: 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]

Abstract

A cloud operating system (COS) and a computer system and method using the cloud operating system to perform electronic data interchange transfers of documents, converted as needed to file formats usable by receiving entities. The COS is configured to operate on a plurality of machines including an external computer system hosting a single server component and a database system-wide critical state/counter tables, and one or more server clusters interacting with the server component and state/counter database. Each server cluster includes a gateway computer system including a gateway storage volume on which sending and receiving entities are provisioned, and a plurality of processing server instances, each configured, on a revolving basis, to request permission from the server component to access the gateway storage volume to receive a document from a sending entity, receive and convert the document, request permission to transfer the converted document back to the gateway, and transfer the converted document back to the gateway when permitted.

Claims

1. A cloud operating system to be run by a plurality of machines including a server cluster and an external computer system, the server cluster comprising a gateway computer system having a gateway storage volume and a plurality of processing server instances, to facilitate electronic data interchange among a plurality of provisioned entities interacting with the server cluster through the gateway computer system, the cloud operating system comprising programmed instructions stored in a non-transitory storage medium readable by the external computer system, gateway computer system, and processing server instances, the programmed instructions including:

instructions for one of the processing server instances to send a service call to a server component residing in the external computer system, the service call comprising a request for the processing server instance to access the gateway storage volume to transfer at least one file to or from the gateway storage volume;

instructions for the server component to apply permission logic for granting or deferring the request, including applying at least a rule to defer the request if the requested file transfer would conflict with a file transfer to or from another processing server instance, and to grant or defer the request in accordance with the permission logic;

dynamic access granting instructions for the server component to dynamically grant access to the requesting processing server instance when the request is granted, the dynamic access granting instructions configured to provide any requesting processing server instance equal access to the gateway storage volume; and

instructions for the processing server instance to create a transfer session with the gateway computer system for the requested file transfer to be executed when the server component grants the request.

2. The cloud operating system of claim 1, the programmed instructions further including instructions for the processing server instance, upon completing said requested file transfer, to transmit a completion signal to the server component.

3. The cloud operating system of claim 2, the permission logic including a rule to defer a subsequent request that would conflict with a previously granted request when, at the time of the subsequent request, the server component has not received a completion signal corresponding to the previously granted request.

4. The cloud operating system of claim 1, the programmed instructions further including instructions for each processing server instance to initiate file transfer activity at a file transfer activity start time assigned to the respective processing server instance, the file transfer activity including the respective processing server instance sending said service call to the server component.

5. The cloud operating system of claim 4, the file transfer activity start times of all the processing server instances occurring in a predefined, repeating sequential order.

6. The cloud operating system of claim 4, the file transfer activity start times being separated by a fixed time interval.

7. The cloud operating system of claim 1, said dynamic access granting instructions configured for the gateway computer system to provide any requesting processing server instance access to an entire available space of the gateway storage volume.

8. The cloud operating system of claim 1, said dynamic access granting instructions configured to provision an entire available space of the gateway storage volume in orthogonal scheduled time intervals to each processing server instance, and in the event that operations of a particular processing server instance continue past its respective time interval into an overlapping time subinterval comprising a portion of a subsequent time interval provisioned to another processing server instance, the dynamic access granting instructions configured to apportion the storage volume in the overlapping time subinterval into orthogonal space-time segments assigned separately to operations of each overlapping processing server instance to reduce the probability of a collision.

9. The cloud operating system of claim 1, the programmed instructions further comprising

instructions for the server component to, after receiving the file transfer request, record at least one context variable passed as an argument to the transfer request in a data table associated with a current counter value;

and

instructions for the server component, after determining that conditions for granting the request are satisfied, to call a stored procedure to assign a new current counter value to the data table.

10. The cloud operating system of claim 1, the programmed instructions further comprising instructions for the server component to, if the requested file transfer would collide in the gateway storage volume with a prior requested file transfer from another processing server instance, host an environment in which the conflicting file transfers are handled one at a time.

11. The cloud operating system of claim 1, the programmed instructions further comprising instructions for the transfer request from the requesting processing server instance to include priority information for the request.

12. The cloud operating system of claim 1, the programmed instructions further comprising instructions for the transfer request from the requesting processing server instance to include information specifying a current state of the requesting processing server instance.

13. The cloud operating system of claim 1, the programmed instructions further comprising instructions for the transfer request from the requesting processing server instance to specify a maximum pre-transfer timeout time after which the requested transfer, if granted and not yet initiated, will be terminated.

14. The cloud operating system of claim 1, further comprising a gateway service to be hosted by the gateway computer system of each cluster, the gateway service having two logical ends, including a customer end through which system customers interact with the cluster and a trading partner end through which trading partners of the system customers interact with the cluster, further comprising a specialized client component configured to reside in each processing server instance for processing file transfers to and from system customers operating legacy enterprise resource planning systems that require a plurality of files received from a trading partner to be converted to a single concatenated byte stream.

19. The method of claim 11, the cloud operating system further comprising a gateway service to be hosted by the gateway computer system of each cluster, the gateway service having two logical ends, including a customer end through which system customers interact with the cluster and a trading partner end through which trading partners of the system customers interact with the cluster, further comprising a specialized client component residing in each processing server instance for processing file transfers to and from system customers operating legacy enterprise resource planning systems that require a plurality of files transferred through the trading partner end to be converted to or from a single concatenated byte stream, and the method further comprising

the gateway computer system hosting said gateway service;

each processing server instance hosting said specialized client component; and

said converting the document comprising converting the document to or from a single concatenated byte stream.

15. A method of performing electronic data interchange among a plurality of provisioned entities using a cloud operating system to be run by a plurality of machines including an external computer system and a server cluster, the server cluster comprising a gateway computer system having a gateway storage volume and a plurality of processing server instances, to facilitate electronic data interchange among a plurality of provisioned entities interacting with the server cluster through the gateway computer system, comprising programmed instructions stored in a storage medium readable by the external computer system, gateway computer system, and processing server instances, the instructions including instructions for one of the processing server instances to send a service call to a server component residing in the external computer system, the service call comprising a request for the processing server instance to access the gateway storage volume to transfer at least one file to or from the gateway storage volume;

instructions for the server component to apply permission logic to the file transfer request, the permission logic specifying rules for granting or deferring the request, including at least a rule to defer the request if the requested file transfer would conflict with a file transfer to or from another processing server instance, and to grant or defer the request in accordance with the permission logic;

if the request is granted, instructions for the server component to dynamically grant access to the requesting processing server instance, the dynamic access granting instructions configured to provide any requesting processing server instance equal access to the gateway storage volume; and

instructions for the processing server instance, if the server component grants the request, to create a transfer session with the gateway computer system for the requested file transfer to be executed;

the method comprising;

the gateway computer system receiving a file transfer comprising a document from a sending one of said provisioned entities and storing the document in the gateway storage volume;

one of the processing server instances sending a service call to the server component comprising a request for the processing server instance to access the gateway storage volume to transfer the document from the gateway storage volume;

the server component applying said permission logic to the request to transfer the document from the gateway storage volume and granting the request based on said permission logic;

the server component dynamically granting said one of the processing server instances said equal access to the gateway storage volume to transfer the document from the gateway storage volume;

said one of the processing server instances creating a transfer session with the gateway computer system for executing the requested transfer of the document from the gateway storage volume;

the requested transfer of the document from the gateway storage volume being executed;

said one of the processing server instances converting the document into a format for sending to a receiving one of said provisioned entities;

said one of the processing server instances sending a service call to the server component comprising a request for the processing server instance to access the gateway storage volume to transfer the converted document to the gateway storage volume;

the server component applying said permission logic to the request to transfer the converted document to the gateway and granting the request based on said permission logic;

the server component dynamically granting said one of the processing server instances said equal access to the gateway storage volume to transfer the converted document to the gateway storage volume;

said one of the processing server instances creating a transfer session with the gateway computer system for executing the requested transfer of the converted document to the gateway storage volume;

the requested transfer of the converted document to the gateway storage volume being executed; and

the gateway sending the converted document to said receiving one of said provisioned entities.

16. The method of claim 15, said dynamic access granting instructions configured to provision an entire available space of the gateway storage volume in orthogonal scheduled time intervals of a recurring clock cycle to each processing server instance, and in the event that operations of a particular processing server instance continue past its respective time interval into an overlapping time subinterval comprising a portion of a subsequent time interval provisioned to another processing server instance, apportioning the storage volume in the overlapping time subinterval into orthogonal space-time segments assigned separately to operations of each overlapping processing server instance to reduce the probability of a collision.

17. The method of claim 15, said cloud operating system further comprising instructions for the server component to, after receiving the file transfer request, record at least one context variable passed as an argument to the transfer request in a data table associated with a current counter value;

and instructions for the server component, after determining that conditions for granting the request are satisfied, to call a stored procedure to assign a new current counter value to the data table, and the method further comprising

the server component executing said instructions to record the transfer request context variable and assign a new counter value.

18. The method of claim 15, said cloud operating system further comprising instructions for the server component to, if the requested file transfer would collide in the gateway storage volume with a prior requested file transfer from another processing server instance, host an environment in which the conflicting file transfers are handled one at a time, and the method further comprising

in the event that a requested file transfer would collide in the storage volume with a prior requested file transfer from another processing server instance, the server component executing said instructions to host said environment, and said conflicting file transfers being handled one at a time in said environment.

20. A computer system for performing electronic data interchange among a plurality of provisioned entities using a cloud operating system to be run by a plurality of machines including an external computer system and a server cluster, the server cluster comprising a gateway computer system having a gateway storage volume and a plurality of processing server instances, to facilitate electronic data interchange among a plurality of provisioned entities interacting with the server cluster through the gateway computer system, comprising programmed instructions stored in a non-transitory storage medium readable by the external computer system, gateway computer system, and processing server instances, the instructions including instructions for one of the processing server instances to send a service call to a server component residing in the external computer system, the service call comprising a request for the processing server instance to access the gateway storage volume to transfer at least one file to or from the gateway storage volume;

instructions for the server component to apply permission logic to the file transfer request, the permission logic specifying rules for granting or deferring the request, including at least a rule to defer the request if the requested file transfer would conflict with a file transfer to or from another processing server instance, and to grant or defer the request in accordance with the permission logic;

if the request is granted, instructions for the server component to dynamically grant access to the requesting processing server instance, the dynamic access granting instructions configured to provide any requesting processing server instance equal access to the gateway storage volume; and

instructions for the processing server instance, if the server component grants the request, to create a transfer session with the gateway computer system for the requested file transfer to be executed;

the system comprising;

said external computer system hosting said server component; and

said server cluster comprising said gateway computer system having the gateway storage volume and said plurality of processing server instances;

the gateway storage volume provisioned to send and receive file transfers from each of said provisioned entities.

21. The system of claim 20, said dynamic access granting instructions configured to provision an entire available space of the gateway storage volume in orthogonal scheduled time intervals of a recurring clock cycle to each processing server instance, and in the event that operations of a particular processing server instance continue past its respective time interval into an overlapping time subinterval comprising a portion of a subsequent time interval provisioned to another processing server instance, apportioning the storage volume in the overlapping time subinterval into orthogonal space-time segments assigned separately to operations of each overlapping processing server instance to reduce the probability of a collision.

22. The system of claim 20, said cloud operating system further comprising instructions for the server component to, after receiving the file transfer request, record at least one context variable passed as an argument to the transfer request in a data table associated with a current counter value;

and instructions for the server component, after determining that conditions for granting the request are satisfied, to call a stored procedure to assign a new current counter value to the data table.

23. The system of claim 20, said cloud operating system further comprising instructions for the server component to, if the requested file transfer would collide in the gateway storage volume with a prior requested file transfer from another processing server instance, host an environment in which the conflicting file transfers are handled one at a time.

24. The system of claim 20, the cloud operating system further comprising a gateway service hosted by the gateway computer system of each cluster, the gateway service having two logical ends, including a customer end through which system customers interact with the cluster and a trading partner end through which trading partners of the system customers interact with the cluster, further comprising a specialized client component residing in each processing server instance for processing file transfers to and from system customers operating legacy enterprise resource planning systems that require a plurality of files transferred through the trading partner end to be converted to or from a single concatenated byte stream.