Method, system and article of manufacture for data distribution over a network

• US 20020066026A1
• Filed: 11/30/2000
• Published: 05/30/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Voloshin, Mikhail, Yau, Cedric Tan
• Granted Patent: US 7,155,487 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/201
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/02 for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1063 Discovery through centralising entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1074 for supporting data block transmission mechanisms file transfer H04L67/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A data distribution network includes a distribution-coordinating server and a plurality of client nodes. Each of the client nodes is configured to pull or push data from other clients or servers. The distribution-coordinating server monitors the locations of data sources and the statuses of data transfers between clients. By tracking the locations of data on the network and client data requests, the distribution-coordinating server can instruct the clients to perform data pushes and/or pulls to coordinate large-scale distributions of data among a multitude of clients. Metadata describing the data and clients can be exchanged between the clients and the distribution-coordinating server to coordinate the data distributions. Also, the distribution-coordinating server can be configured to coordinate data distributions through network security firewalls.

Claims

1. A method for distributing data to a plurality of networked nodes, comprising:

providing a server configured to coordinate transfers of data among the networked nodes;

transferring a node identifier and a data identifier from a first networked node to the server;

transferring instructions from the server to the first networked node in response to the node identifier and the data identifier; and

transferring the data from the first networked node to one or more of the networked nodes according to the instructions.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the instructions are communicated through a connection initiated from the server.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the instructions are communicated through a connection initiated by the first node.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first node commences data transfer to the networked nodes prior to completely receiving the data at the first node.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the instructions direct the first node to retrieve the data from a content-providing server.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the instructions are for directing the first node to perform a plurality of transfers to the networked nodes.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the networked nodes resides on a protected network separated from the server by a firewall.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first node polls the server at predetermined intervals for initiating the transfer of the instructions

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

cascading the data to others of the networked nodes.

10. A system, comprising:

a plurality of nodes capable of communicating with one another over a network; and

a server, operatively coupled to the nodes by way of the network, for transferring instructions to the at least one of the nodes in response to a node identifier corresponding to the at least one of the nodes, the instructions for directing the at least one of the nodes to transfer data resident therein to one or more of the other nodes.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

a firewall server operatively coupled to the plurality of nodes.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the firewall server is configured to prevent the server from requesting a connection to one or more of the nodes.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the nodes includes means for polling the server at predetermined intervals to receive the instructions.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the nodes is configured to check the integrity of the data.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the nodes is configured to encrypt the data.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the nodes is configured to compress the data.

18. The server of claim 17, further comprising means for determining whether at least one the networked nodes resides on a protected network.

19. The server of claim 18, wherein the determining means includes means for identifying a firewall server networked to the client.

20. The server of claim 17, further comprising:

a software program configuring the server to determine whether the client resides on a protected network.

21. The server of claim 20, wherein the command directs the client to retrieve the data from at least one of the networked nodes residing on the protected network.

22. The server of claim 17, wherein the command includes metadata.

24. The server of claim 23, wherein the message includes metadata.

25. The server of claim 23, further comprising means for determining whether at least one the networked nodes resides on a protected network.

26. The server of claim 23, further comprising:

a software program for configuring the server to determine whether the node resides on a protected network.

27. The server of claim 26, wherein the instruction directs the node to transfer the data only to those of the nodes residing on the protected network.

28. The server of claim 23, further comprising means for authenticating the networked node.

30. The computer program product of claim 29, further comprising:

means for causing the client to retrieve the data from the at least one of the networked nodes.

17. A server, comprising:

a database for storing information identifying one or more networked nodes storing data;

means for receiving a client identifier from a networked client;

means for comparing the client identifier to the database information to determine whether the data is designated for the client; and

means for transferring a command to the client based on the comparison of the client identifier and the database information, wherein the command directs the client to retrieve the data from at least one of the networked nodes.

23. A server, comprising:

means for receiving a message from a networked node indicating that the node has received data;

a database for storing information identifying one or more networked nodes that have requested the data; and

means for communicating an instruction to the networked node for directing the node to transfer the data to at least one of the networked nodes.

29. Computer program product in a computer-usable medium, comprising:

means for receiving at a server a client identifier from a networked client;

means for comparing the client identifier to database information to determine whether the data is designated for the client; and

means for transferring a command to the client based on the comparison of the client identifier and the database information, wherein the command directs the client to retrieve the data from at least one of the networked nodes.

31. Computer program product in a computer-usable medium, comprising:

means for receiving a message from a networked node indicating that the node has received data;

means for identifying one or more networked nodes that have requested the data; and

means for communicating an instruction to the networked node for directing the node to transfer the data to at least one of the networked nodes.

32. The computer program product of claim 31, further comprising:

means for causing the node to transfer the data to at least one of the networked nodes.