Digital object delivery and management system with dynamically created temporary FTP access codes

• US 20040088680A1
• Filed: 10/24/2003
• Published: 05/06/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Flexera Software LLC
• Original Assignee: Imc Intraware
• Inventors: Brentano, James, Pieper, Tobid, Loyd, Steven, Martinelli, Paul, Thompson, Brad
• Granted Patent: US 7,464,143 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/114
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A digital object delivery/management system includes a library of stored digital objects and a shared database containing web server access codes and a mapping indicating which users are authorized to access which stored digital objects. The shared database is coupled to a file transfer protocol (FTP) server and a web server. The FTP server is additionally coupled to the library. The web server presents at least one web page providing instructions for users seeking access to digital objects contained in the library, authenticates users according to the web server access codes, generates temporary FTP access codes for use by authenticated users in accessing authorized objects at the FTP server, and redirects authenticated users to the FTP server. The FTP server authenticates users according to the temporary FTP access codes, and, upon successful authentication, makes digital objects contained in the library available to requesting users pursuant to the mapping.

Claims

1. A method for setup of a digital object storage and delivery system comprising a library, a shared database, a file transfer protocol (FTP) server coupled to the library and the database, and a web server coupled to the database, the method comprising operations of:

populating the library with a number of machine readable digital objects;

configuring the database to include web server access codes corresponding to various users and a mapping of which users are authorized to access which of the stored digital objects;

programming the web server to perform operations including presenting at least one Internet web page providing instructions for users seeking access to digital objects in the library, authenticating users browsing the web page according to their corresponding web server access codes, generating a temporary FTP access code for each authenticated user, and redirecting each authenticated user to the FTP server;

programming the FTP server to perform operations comprising authenticating said redirected users by utilizing the temporary FTP access codes, upon successful authentication, making digital objects from the library available to the users as authorized by the mapping.

2. The method of claim 1, where:

the operation of programming the web server further comprises programming the web server to transmit each said generated temporary FTP code to its user and to the database for storage in association with that user;

the operation of programming the FTP server is conducted such that the FTP server is programmed to perform the authenticating operation by comparing temporary FTP access codes submitted by users with temporary FTP access codes stored in the database in association with those users.

3. The method of claim 1, where:

the operation of programming the web server is conducted such that the operation of redirecting each authenticated user to the FTP server is conditioned on the web server performing operations including (1) receiving the user'"'"'s request to access one or more particular digital objects in the library and (2) verifying that the user is authorized to access the particular objects according to the mapping.

4. A method for providing a data storage and delivery system comprising a web server, a file transfer protocol (FTP) server, a shared database coupled to the web server and the FTP server, and a library coupled to the FTP server, the method comprising operations of:

populating the library with a number of machine readable digital objects;

configuring the database to include mapping specifying which of various users are permitted to access which digital objects in the library, and system login information for each user;

programming the web server to perform operations comprising;

utilizing the system login information in the database to authenticate users seeking access to the library;

responsive to each time the web server receives a web-server-authenticated user'"'"'s request to access one or more desired objects in the library, consulting the mapping to determine whether that user is permitted to access the desired object, and only if that user is permitted to access the desired object, performing FTP setup operations comprising;

generating an FTP access code associated with the requesting user;

storing the FTP access code in the database;

transmitting the FTP access code to the requesting user;

referring the requesting user to the FTP server;

programming the FTP server to perform operations comprising;

responsive to each time the FTP server receives a web-server-authenticated user'"'"'s request to access one or more desired objects in the library, utilizing the requesting user'"'"'s associated FTP access code stored in the database to authenticate the request and consulting the mapping to determine whether the requesting user is permitted to access the desired objects;

only if the requesting user is permitted to access the desired objects, making the desired objects available to the requesting user.

5. The method of claim 4, where the operation of programming the web server is conducted such that the operation of transmitting the FTP access code to the requesting user comprises:

the web server sending the requesting user an FTP uniform resource locator (URL) including an encrypted login ID and an encrypted password and an address of the FTP server.

6. The method of claim 4, where the operations of programming the web server are conducted such that:

the operations further include programming the web server to communicate with users via users'"'"' respective web browsers;

the operation of the web server transmitting the FTP access code to the requesting user comprises transmitting an encrypted representation of the FTP access code to the requesting user'"'"'s web browser.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising programming at least one of the web server and the FTP server to perform operations comprising:

designating and enforcing expiration of each FTP access code.

8. The method of claim 4, where:

the operation of programming the web server is conducted such that the FTP setup operations further comprise designating an expiration event for each FTP access code;

the operation of programming the FTP server is conducted such that the operation of utilizing the FTP access code to authenticate the request further comprises determining whether that FTP access code has expired.

9. A method for operating a digital object storage and delivery system comprising a library of stored machine readable digital objects, a shared database containing web server access codes corresponding to various users and a mapping indicating which users are authorized to access which of the stored digital objects, a file transfer protocol (FTP) server coupled to the database and the library, and a web server coupled to the database, comprising:

operating the web server to perform operations including presenting at least one Internet web page providing instructions for users seeking access to digital objects in the library, authenticating users browsing the web page according to their corresponding web server access codes, generating a temporary FTP access code for each authenticated user, and redirecting each authenticated users to the FTP server;

operating the FTP server to perform operations comprising authenticating said redirected users by utilizing the temporary FTP access codes and, upon successful authentication, making digital objects from the library available to the users as authorized by the mapping.

10. The method of claim 9, where:

the operations performed by the web server further comprise transmitting each said generated temporary FTP code to its user and to the database for storage in association with that user;

the authenticating operation performed by the FTP server further comprises comparing temporary FTP access codes submitted by users with temporary FTP access codes stored in the database in association with those users.

11. The method of claim 9, where:

the operation of the web server redirecting each authenticated user to the FTP server is conditioned on the web server performing operations including (1) receiving the user'"'"'s request to access one or more particular digital objects in the library and (2) verifying that the user is authorized to access the particular objects according to the mapping.

12. A method for selectively delivering stored data utilizing a data storage and delivery system comprising a library populated with a number of machine readable digital objects, a web server, a file transfer protocol (FTP) server coupled to the library, a shared database coupled to the web server and the FTP server containing mapping specifying which of various users are permitted to access which digital objects in the library and also containing system login information for each user, the method comprising operations of:

the web server utilizing the system login information in the database to authenticate users seeking access to the library;

responsive to each time the web server receives a web-server-authenticated user'"'"'s request to access one or more desired objects in the library, the web server consulting the mapping to determine whether that user is permitted to access the desired object, and only if that user is permitted to access the desired object, the web server performing FTP setup operations comprising;

generating an FTP access code associated with the requesting user;

storing the FTP access code in the database;

transmitting the temporary FTP access code to the requesting user;

referring the requesting user to the FTP server;

responsive to each time the FTP server receives a web-server-authenticated user'"'"'s request to access one or more desired objects in the library, the FTP server utilizing the requesting user'"'"'s associated FTP access code stored in the database to authenticate the request and consulting the mapping to determine whether the requesting user is permitted to access the desired objects;

only if the requesting user is permitted to access the desired objects, making the desired objects available to the requesting user.

13. The method of claim 12, the operation of transmitting the FTP access code to the requesting user comprising:

the web server sending the requesting user an FTP uniform resource locator (URL) including an encrypted login ID and an encrypted password and an address of the FTP server.

14. The method of claim 12, where:

the web server communicates with users via users'"'"' respective web browsers;

the operation of the web server transmitting the FTP access code to the requesting user comprises transmitting an encrypted representation of the FTP access code to the requesting user'"'"'s web browser.

15. The method of claim 12, the operations further comprising:

designating and enforcing expiration of each FTP access code.

16. The method of claim 12, where:

the FTP setup operations further comprise designating an expiration event for each FTP access code;

the operations of the FTP server utilizing the FTP access code to authenticate the request further comprises determining whether that FTP access code has expired.

17. An electronic software delivery and management (ESDM) system, comprising:

a library of stored machine readable digital objects;

a shared database containing web server access codes corresponding to various users and a mapping indicating which users are authorized to access which of the stored digital objects;

a file transfer protocol (FTP) server coupled to the database and the library;

a web server coupled to the database and programmed to perform operations including presenting at least one Internet web page providing instructions for users seeking access to digital objects in the library, authenticating said users browsing the web page according to their corresponding web server access codes, generating a temporary FTP access code for each authenticated user, and redirecting each authenticated user to the FTP server;

the FTP server programmed to perform operations comprising authenticating said redirected users by utilizing the temporary FTP access codes and, upon successful authentication, making digital objects from the library available to the users as authorized by the mapping.

18. The system of claim 17, where:

the web server is further programmed to perform operations including transmitting each said generated temporary FTP code to its user and to the database for storage in association with that user;

the FTP server is programmed such that the authenticating operation further comprises comparing temporary FTP access codes submitted by users with temporary FTP access codes stored in the database in association with those users.

19. The system of claim 17, where:

the operation of the web server redirecting each authenticated user to the FTP server is conditioned on the web server performing operations including (1) receiving the user'"'"'s request to access one or more particular digital objects in the library and (2) verifying that the user is authorized to access the particular objects according to the mapping.

20. An electronic software delivery and management (ESDM) system, comprising:

library means for storing machine readable digital objects;

shared database means for containing web server access codes corresponding to various users and a mapping indicating which of various users are authorized to access which of the stored digital objects;

web server means, coupled to the database means, for performing operations including presenting at least one Internet web page providing instructions for users seeking access to digital objects in the library means, authenticating users browsing the web page according to their corresponding web server access codes, generating a temporary file transfer protocol (FTP) access code for each authenticated user, and redirecting authenticated users to an FTP server means;

FTP server means, coupled to the database means and the library means, for performing operations comprising authenticating said redirected users by utilizing the temporary FTP access codes and, upon successful authentication, making digital objects from the library means available to the users as authorized by the mapping.

21. A data storage and delivery system for selectively delivering stored data, comprising:

a library of stored machine readable digital objects;

a web server;

a file transfer protocol (FTP) server coupled to the library;

a shared database coupled to the web server and the FTP server, containing mapping specifying which of various users are permitted to access which digital objects in the library and also containing system login information for each user;

the web server being programmed to perform operations comprising;

utilizing the system login information in the database to authenticate users seeking access to the library;

responsive to each time the web server receives a web-server-authenticated user'"'"'s request to access one or more desired objects in the library, consulting the mapping to determine whether that user is permitted to access the desired object, and only if that user is permitted to access the desired object, performing FTP setup operations comprising;

generating an FTP access code associated with the requesting user;

storing the FTP access code in the database;

transmitting the FTP access code to the requesting user;

referring the requesting user to the FTP server;

the FTP server being programmed to perform operations comprising;

responsive to each time the FTP server receives a web-server-authenticated user'"'"'s request to access one or more desired objects in the library, utilizing the requesting user'"'"'s associated FTP access code stored in the database to authenticate the request and consulting the mapping to determine whether the requesting user is permitted to access the desired objects;

only if the requesting user is permitted to access the desired objects, making the desired objects available to the requesting user.

22. The system of claim 21, the web server programmed such that the operation of transmitting the FTP access code to the requesting user comprises:

the web server sending the requesting user an FTP uniform resource locator (URL) including an encrypted login ID and an encrypted password and an address of the FTP server.

23. The system of claim 21, where:

the web server is programmed to communicate with users via users'"'"' respective web browsers;

the web server is programmed such that the operation of transmitting the FTP access code to the requesting user comprises transmitting an encrypted representation of the FTP access code to the requesting user'"'"'s web browser.

24. The system of claim 21, the FTP server further programmed to perform operations comprising:

enforcing a designated expiration for each FTP access code.

25. The system of claim 21, where:

the web server is programmed such that the FTP setup operations further comprise designating an expiration event for each FTP access code;

the FTP server is programmed such that the operation of utilizing the FTP access code to authenticate the request further comprises determining whether that FTP access code has expired.