Wide area storage localization system

• US 20040024808A1
• Filed: 08/01/2002
• Published: 02/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Yamamoto, Akira, Taguchi, Yuichi
• Application Number:
  US10/211,428
• Publication Number:
  US 20040024808A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• 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 67/564 Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/566 Grouping or aggregating service requests, e.g. for unified processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A system is described for facilitating retrieval of information from various sites to a secondary site using mirroring or other data replication software. At the secondary site using a proxy system, an operator may retrieve data from the secondary systems mirrored to the site. The system is particularly applicable to combining disparate types of remotely situated databases.

Claims

1. A system for facilitating retrieval of information in which a first system stores first data at a first location and a second system stores second data at a second location, the first system and the second system being coupled together by a network, the system comprising:

a terminal connected to retrieve data from the first system;

at least one replication software program for copying data from the second system to the first system; and

a proxy system operating at the first location to enable a user of the terminal to retrieve data from the second system which data have been copied to the first system from the second system.

2. A system as in claim 1 wherein the replication software program comprises a mirroring program.

3. A system as in claim 2 wherein the data comprises data from a database.

4. A system for facilitating retrieval of information comprising:

.

a first system storing first data at a first location;

a second system storing second data at a second location;

a third system located at a third location remote to the first and second locations, but connected to the first and second locations by a network, from which third system an operator is to retrieve information;

at least one replication software program for copying data from the first system over the network to the third system and for copying data from the second system over the network to the third system; and

a proxy system operating at the third location to enable a user of the third system to retrieve data from the third system which has been copied to the third location from the first system and from the second system.

5. A system as in claim 4 wherein each of the first data and second data comprises data stored in a database.

6. A system for facilitating retrieval of information stored in databases at different locations comprising:

a first system storing first database information at a first location and being coupled to a network, the first system having mirroring software to enable copying of the database information from the first system to a remote system at a remote location over the network;

a second system storing second database information at a second location and being coupled to the network, the second system also having mirroring software to enable copying of the database information from the second system to the remote system over the network;

a proxy system operating on the remote system to enable a user of the remote system to retrieve data copied from the first system and copied from the second system to the remote system.

7. A system for facilitating retrieval of information stored at a plurality of different remote locations which information is copied from the remote locations to storage at a local site comprising:

a terminal coupled to access the storage at the local site; and

a proxy server at the local site which accesses information copied to the local site from the remote locations.

8. A method of facilitating retrieval of information stored at a plurality of different locations comprising:

at each of the plurality of locations, performing a data back-up operation to cause data at that location to be copied over a network to a first location;

providing a user coupled to the first location with a proxy server to access the data backed up to that location; and

using the proxy server at the first location, accessing the data stored at the first location.