External hard drive device with cloud drive support

• US 10,642,516 B2
• Filed: 12/27/2016
• Issued: 05/05/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jeff Ma, Seagate Technology LLC (Seagate Technology Holdings Plc)
• Original Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC (Seagate Technology Holdings Plc)
• Inventors: Arnold, Kevin, Ma, Jeff, Kahuashvili, Yuliya, Bucher, Timothy
• Primary Examiner(s): Mitchell, Jason D
• Application Number:
  US15/391,097
• Publication Number:
  US 20170192707A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,225 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/182 Distributed file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0604 Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0632 by initialisation or re-initialisation of storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0643 Management of files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed to execute a startup program on a computer, the startup program being stored on an external storage device connected with the computer; download a file management program from a remote server to the computer; install the file management program on the computer; send a message to a cloud storage management server requesting the creation of a cloud storage account associated with the external storage device; and receive an indication that the cloud storage account has been created.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

executing a startup program on a computer, the startup program being stored on an external storage device connected with the computer;

downloading, by the startup program, a file management program from a remote server to the computer; and

installing the file management program on the computer;

sending, by the startup program or the file management program, a message to a cloud storage management server requesting the creation of a cloud storage account associated with the external storage device;

receiving, by the file management program, an indication that the cloud storage account has been created; and

receiving, by the file management program, a command from a user to transfer a file from a memory of the computer to the external storage device connected to the computer;

if a size of the file is greater than a threshold value;

directly uploading, by the file management program, the file from the memory of the computer connected to the external storage device to a cloud storage location along with an indication of the cloud storage account;

otherwise;

storing, by the file management program, the file from the memory of the computer in the external storage device;

detecting, by a system program running on the computer, that the file is being stored to the external storage device; and

upon detecting that the file is being stored to the external storage device, uploading, by the file management program and from the external storage device, the file to the cloud storage location along with the indication of the cloud storage account.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the message includes a unique identifier associated with the external storage device.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the message includes a value specifying the size of the external storage device.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising sending a request to a remote program store requesting the file management program.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising executing the file management program to enable communication of information between the computer and the cloud storage location.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the external storage device includes a solid state hard drive, a USB memory stick, a magnetic hard disk drive, flash memory, or one or more spinning disks.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the external storage device is in wireless communication with the computer.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the cloud storage management server is in communication with cloud storage devices distributed geographically.

9. A system, comprising:

an external storage device in communication with a computer, the computer in communication with a network, the external storage device comprising a startup program stored on the external storage device, configured to be executed by the computer to at least;

request a file management program stored in a program store;

execute the file management program to enable communication of information between the computer and a cloud storage location; and

request, by the startup program or the file management program, creation of a cloud storage account associated with the external storage device, the request for the creation of the cloud storage account being carried out after the request for the file management program in the program store and after the execution of the file management program to enable communication between the computer and the cloud storage location,

upon receiving, by the file management program, a command from a user to transfer a file from a memory of the computer to the external storage device in communication with the computer, a determination is made, by the file management program, as to whether a size of the file is greater than a threshold value; and

if the size of the file is greater than the threshold value;

the file is directly uploaded, by the file management program, from the memory of the computer in communication with the external storage device to the cloud storage location along with an indication of the cloud storage account;

otherwise;

the file from the memory of the computer is stored, by the file management program, in the external storage device and uploaded, from the external storage device, to the cloud storage location along with the indication of the cloud storage account.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the startup program is further configured to include a unique identifier that identifies the external storage device with the request for creation of the cloud storage account.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the external storage device is further configured to communicate with the cloud storage location associated with the cloud storage account.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the cloud storage location is a distributed storage location that includes a plurality of storage locations distributed geographically.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the external storage device is in wireless communication with the computer.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the startup program is further configured to include a storage size of the external storage device with the request for the creation of the cloud storage account.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that cause a computer in communication with the computer-readable storage medium to:

execute a startup program, stored in an external device connected to a computer, that is configured to;

request a file management program stored in a program store; and

execute the file management program to enable communication of information between the computer and a cloud storage device; and

request, by the startup program or the file management program, creation of a cloud storage account associated with the external storage device, the request for the creation of the cloud storage account being carried out after the request for the file management program in the program store and after the execution of the file management program to enable communication between the computer and the cloud storage device,

upon receiving, by the file management program, a command from a user to transfer a file from a memory of the computer to the external storage device in communication with the computer, a determination is made, by the file management program, as to whether a size of the file is greater than a threshold value; and

if the size of the file is greater than the threshold value;

the file is directly uploaded, by the file management program, from the memory of the computer in communication with the external storage device to the cloud storage location along with an indication of the cloud storage account;

otherwise;

the file from the memory of the computer is stored, by the file management program, in the external storage device and uploaded, from the external storage device, to the cloud storage location along with the indication of the cloud storage account.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the startup program is further configured to include a unique identifier that identifies the external storage device with the request for creation of the cloud storage account.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the cloud storage location is a distributed storage location that includes a plurality of storage locations geographically distributed.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the startup program is further configured to include a storage size of the external storage device with the request for the creation of the cloud storage account.