Policy based hydration behavior in cloud storage synchronization

• US 10,616,327 B2
• Filed: 09/20/2016
• Issued: 04/07/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Nichols, Jack Allen, Averett, Ed
• Primary Examiner(s): Corrielus, Jean M
• Application Number:
  US15/271,185
• Publication Number:
  US 20180084044A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,295 Days
• Field of Search: 707620
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/16 File or folder operations, e.g. details of user interfaces specifically adapted to file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/178 Techniques for file synchronisation in file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1844 Management specifically adapted to replicated file systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• 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

Policy based hydration behavior in cloud storage synchronization is provided. In some examples, user intent and defined policy or policies may be examined by a synchronization engine to determine when a synchronization should be aborted and instead redirected to viewing the requested file from the cloud, thereby avoiding the download. The synchronization engine may include a web interface with the ability to display and edit different types of files in this fashion. In addition to redirecting to the cloud, hydration may be blocked entirely in other examples. In a further example, a selective synchronization dialog may be launched to allow the user specify select action(s). A policy that dictates the hydration behavior may be persisted and updated as needed. To implement the policy, required operations on the local machine may be intercepted.

Claims

1. A method to provide policy based hydration behavior in cloud storage synchronization, the method comprising:

receiving a request to synchronize a cloud stored file to a local storage;

determining, with a processor, a policy applicable to the cloud stored file;

determining, with the processor, whether a synchronization of the cloud stored file is to be redirected or blocked based on the determined policy; and

based on the determined policy

avoiding a download of the cloud stored file to the local storage, wherein avoiding the download includes redirecting, with the processor, the synchronization of the cloud stored file to a cloud based operation on the cloud stored file or blocking, with the processor, the synchronization of the cloud stored file.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the policy applicable to the cloud stored file comprises:

retrieving a combined policy from a policy store, wherein the combined policy includes a base policy and one or both of an organization policy and a user policy.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the base policy includes at least one customizable rule and at least one non-customizable rule.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the organization policy includes at least one rule defining a limit for the user limit.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

evaluating the determined policy at a synchronization engine.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein evaluating the determined policy comprises:

determining whether the synchronization of the cloud stored file is to be redirected or blocked based on one or more of a file size, a network connection, a requesting application type, a device attribute, a file type, and a user attribute.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

redirecting the synchronization to the cloud based operation in response to determining one or more of;

the file size being above a predefined limit, the network connection being slower than a predefined limit, the requesting application being of a predefined type, the device having a predefined attribute, a rule set by an organization policy, and the file being of a predefined type.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the cloud based operation is performing an open operation on the cloud stored file through a web application.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

blocking the synchronization in response to determining one or more of;

the requesting application being of a predefined type, the device having a predefined attribute, the user having a predefined attribute, and the file being of a predefined type.

10. A computing device to provide policy based hydration behavior in cloud storage synchronization, the computing device comprising:

a communication interface configured to facilitate communication between the computing device and a cloud storage service;

a memory configured to store instructions; and

one or more processors coupled to the memory, wherein the one or more processors, in conjunction with the instructions stored in the memory, are configured to;

receive a request to synchronize a cloud stored file to a local storage;

retrieve a combined policy applicable to the cloud stored file from a policy store, wherein the combined policy includes a base policy and one or both of an organization policy and a user policy;

evaluate the combined policy;

determine whether a synchronization of the cloud stored file is to be performed, redirected, or blocked based on the evaluated policy; and

synchronize the cloud stored file to the local storage, redirect the synchronization to a cloud based operation on the cloud stored file, or block the synchronization based on the determination.

11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are configured to evaluate the combined policy by:

loading the base policy and making a copy of the base policy in the memory;

loading the user policy;

traversing the user policy and inspecting each rule within the user policy by merging rules if a rule identifier matches a rule in the base policy; and

appending the rule to the base policy in the memory if the rule identifier is new.

12. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to evaluate the combined policy by:

traversing the base policy in the memory and evaluating each rule by moving to a next rule if the cloud stored file does not match the rule, and

returning a result and stopping evaluating the rules if the cloud stored file matches the rule.

13. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

store and evaluate a kernel policy distinct from the base policy.

14. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the kernel policy is stored at a system-wide file location and the combined policy is stored at a user-specific file location.

15. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

in response to receiving an update to the base policy, evaluate the base policy, and

one of persist and remove the organization policy and the user policy.

16. A physical computer-readable memory device with instructions stored thereon to provide policy based hydration behavior in cloud storage synchronization, the instructions comprising:

receiving a request to synchronize a cloud stored file to a local storage;

retrieving a stacked policy applicable to the cloud stored file from a policy store, wherein the stacked policy includes a base policy and one or both of an organization policy and a user policy;

evaluating the stacked policy by;

traversing the user policy and inspecting each rule within the user policy by merging rules if a rule identifier matches a rule in the base policy,

appending the rule to the base policy if the rule identifier is new,

traversing the base policy and evaluating each rule by moving to a next rule if the cloud stored file does not match the rule, and

returning a result and stopping evaluating the rules if the cloud stored file matches the rule;

determining whether a synchronization of the cloud stored file is to be performed, redirected, or blocked based on the evaluated policy; and

synchronizing the cloud stored file to the local storage, redirect the synchronization to a cloud based operation on the cloud stored file, or block the synchronization based on the determination.

17. The computer-readable memory device of claim 16, wherein the instructions further comprise:

determining whether to launch a first application distinct from second application requesting the synchronization to perform an operation on the cloud stored file;

synchronizing the cloud stored file to the local storage; and

allowing the first application to perform the operation on the synchronized file.

18. The computer-readable memory device of claim 16, wherein determining whether the synchronization of the cloud stored file is to be performed, redirected, or blocked based on the evaluated policy comprises determining a user intent based on whether the file has been edited or viewed previously.

19. The computer-readable memory device of claim 16, wherein the stacked policy is specific to one of a device, a user, a file type, an application type, and an organization.

20. The computer-readable memory device of claim 16, wherein the request is received from one of a user interface of a launched application and a user interface of a directory.