Searching documentation across interconnected nodes in a distributed network

• US 10,467,232 B2
• Filed: 07/06/2015
• Issued: 11/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chi, Lucas Y., Parker, Bryan, Xu, Xi S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Miranda
• Application Number:
  US14/791,715
• Publication Number:
  US 20150310022A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,583 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2471 Distributed queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

Documentation from a network including a plurality of computing nodes is achieved by processing a query for documentation at one or more of the computing nodes within the network in accordance with a priority of each of the computing nodes to obtain search results pertaining to the documentation, where the priority for each computing node is based on a quantity of incoming connections for each computing node. The search results are prioritized in accordance with the priority of the corresponding one or more computing nodes providing the search results.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of providing documentation from one or more of a plurality of computing nodes forming a distributed network, the method comprising:

assigning one or more of the plurality of computing nodes to initially process a query based upon a priority determined for each of the plurality of computing nodes;

processing the query from a querying node to obtain search results for documentation satisfying the query, the search results comprising documentation provided from the one or more of the plurality of computing nodes forming the distributed network in accordance with the priority of each computing node of the one or more of the plurality of computing nodes, wherein the priority of the each computing node of the one or more of the plurality of computing nodes is based on a trust level related to a quantity of total connections for that computing node with other computing nodes within the distributed network, the quantity of total connections being a sum of a quantity of direct connections between that node and others of the plurality of computing nodes and a quantity of indirect connections between that node and the others of the plurality of computing nodes such that computing nodes having more total connections than others of the plurality of computing nodes also have higher trust levels in relation to the others of the plurality of computing nodes, whereby the computing nodes having the higher trust levels in relation to the others of the plurality of computing nodes have higher priorities in relation to the others of the plurality of computing nodes, and wherein a direct connection between two computing nodes is a connection from one of the two computing nodes to another of the two computing nodes without passing through a third computing node;

registering each of the plurality of computing nodes within the distributed network with a discovery register;

arranging the search results in accordance with the priority of the corresponding one or more of the plurality of computing nodes providing the search results, reliability of respective items of content based on the search results being related to the trust level of the each of the one or more of the plurality of computing nodes providing the respective items of content; and

providing, to the querying node, the documentation satisfying the query, the documentation having been obtained from the one or more of the plurality of computing nodes providing the search results based on the corresponding priority of each of the one or more of the plurality of computing nodes, wherein

the plurality of computing nodes communicating, downloading and sharing the documentation among computing nodes of the plurality of computing nodes to facilitate a redundancy in stored documentation at a number of the computing nodes and thereby reduce a likelihood of having a single point of failure.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the discovery register establishes recognized connections between registered computing nodes to determine a priority for each of the registered computing nodes.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the discovery register is provided within at least one of the plurality of computing nodes forming the distributed network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the discovery register is provided within a discovery server that communicates with each of the plurality of computing nodes forming the distributed network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least two of the plurality of computing nodes share information relating to documentation of the query during processing of the query.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the query is processed at two or more of the plurality of computing nodes, and search results are provided by the two or more of the plurality of computing nodes.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the trust level of each of the plurality of computing nodes is independent of any connection between the each of the plurality of computing nodes and the querying node.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the priority of the each of the one or more of the plurality of computing nodes is further based on a relevance of information to be provided by the each of the one or more of the computing nodes in relation to the query.

7. A system for providing documentation from a distributed network, the system comprising:

a plurality of computing nodes forming the distributed network configured to communicating, downloading and sharing the documentation among computing nodes of the plurality of computing nodes to facilitate a redundancy in stored documentation at a number of the computing nodes, wherein each of the plurality of computing nodes includes logic to perform processing of a query from a querying node to obtain search results for documentation satisfying the query;

a discovery register registering each of the plurality of computing nodes;

wherein the system includes logic to perform;

prioritizing each computing node of a first plurality of the computing nodes that has respective documentation satisfying the query, wherein a priority for the each computing node of the first plurality of the computing nodes is based on a trust level related to a quantity of total connections for that computing node with other computing nodes within the distributed network, the quantity of total connections being a sum of a quantity of direct connections between that node and others of the plurality of computing nodes and a quantity of indirect connections between that node and the others of the plurality of computing nodes such that computing nodes having more total connections than others of the plurality of computing nodes also have higher trust levels in relation to the others of the plurality of computing nodes, whereby the computing nodes having the higher trust levels in relation to the others of the plurality of computing nodes have higher priorities in relation to the others of the plurality of computing nodes, and wherein a direct connection between two computing nodes is a connection from one of the two computing nodes to another of the two computing nodes without passing through a third computing node;

assigning one or more of the plurality of computing nodes to initially process the query based upon the priority determined for the each of the plurality of computing nodes;

arranging the search results in accordance with the priority of a corresponding one or more of the first plurality of the computing nodes providing the search results, reliability of respective items of content based on the search results being related to the trust level of the each of the one or more of the first plurality of the computing nodes providing the respective items of content; and

providing, to the querying node, the documentation satisfying the query, the documentation having been obtained from the one or more of the first plurality of computing nodes providing the search results based on the corresponding priority of each of the one or more of the first plurality of computing nodes.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the discovery register further includes logic to perform establishing of recognized connections between registered computing nodes to determine a priority for each of the registered computing nodes.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the discovery register is provided within at least one of the computing nodes of the distributed network.

10. The system of claim 7, further comprising a discovery server that includes the discovery register and communicates with each of the plurality of computing nodes forming the distributed network.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein at least two of the plurality of computing nodes include logic to perform sharing of information relating to at least some of the documentation satisfying the query during processing of the query.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the plurality of computing nodes provides the search results.

13. A computer program product for providing documentation from one or more of a plurality of computing nodes forming a distributed network, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code including instructions for at least one processor to perform;

assigning at least one of the plurality of computing nodes to initially process a query based upon a priority determined for each of the plurality of computing nodes;

processing the query from a querying node to obtain search results for documentation satisfying the query, the search results comprising documentation provided from the one or more of the plurality of computing nodes forming the distributed network in accordance with the priority of the each computing node of the one or more of the plurality of computing nodes, wherein the priority of the each computing node of the one or more of the plurality of computing nodes is based on a trust level related to a quantity of total connections for that computing node with other computing nodes within the distributed network, the quantity of total connections being a sum of a quantity of direct connections between that node and others of the plurality of computing nodes and a quantity of indirect connections between that node and the others of the plurality of computing nodes such that computing nodes having more total connections than others of the plurality of computing nodes have higher trust levels in relation to the others of the plurality of computing nodes, whereby the computing nodes having the higher trust levels in relation to the others of the plurality of computing nodes have higher priorities in relation to the others of the plurality of computing nodes, and wherein a direct connection between two computing nodes is a connection from one of the two computing nodes to another of the two computing nodes without passing through a third computing node;

registering the each of the plurality of computing nodes within the distributed network with a discovery register;

arranging the search results in accordance with the priority of the corresponding one or more of the plurality of computing nodes providing the search results, reliability of respective items of content based on the search results being related to the trust level of the each of the one or more of the plurality of computing nodes providing the respective items of content; and

providing, to the querying node, the documentation satisfying the query, the documentation having been obtained from the one or more of the plurality of computing nodes providing the search results based on a corresponding priority of each of the one or more of the plurality of computing nodes; and

communicating, downloading and sharing the documentation among computing nodes of the plurality of computing nodes to facilitate a redundancy in stored documentation at a number of the computing nodes and thereby reduce a likelihood of having a single point of failure.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the computer readable program code further includes instructions for the at least one processor to perform establishing recognized connections between the registered computing nodes to determine a priority for each of the registered computing nodes.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the query is processed at two or more of the plurality of computing nodes, and search results are provided by the two or more of the plurality of computing nodes.