Content collection

• US 20060026262A1
• Filed: 08/04/2005
• Published: 02/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Neogi, Depankar, Hardy, Geoff, Lara, Marco, Abbott, Freeland
• Granted Patent: US 7,356,589 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/563 Data redirection of data network streams
• 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 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99952 Coherency, e.g. same view to multiple users

Abstract

In a web service system with one or more web servers, a system and method for distributing content directly from each web server to a single computer transfers files generated on web servers to a central location for access by a system operator. If files generated by multiple web servers are aggregated on a single computer, processing and analysis can be performed on all of the files. Generally, in one aspect, the invention relates to a system and method for transmitting content from one computer to another in a web service system. The web service system includes web servers that provide web pages in response to web page requests. First and second web server agents provide an interface between the web service system and first and second computers, respectively. The first web server agent runs on the first computer and identifies at least a portion of a file for transmission to the second web server agent running on the second computer in the web service system. At least a portion of the file from the first web server agent is transmitted to the second web server agent and then stored by the second web server agent.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting content, comprising the steps of:

identifying, by a first web server agent running on a first computer in a web service system, at least a portion of a file for transmission to a second web server agent running on a second computer in the web service system, the web service system providing web pages in response to web page requests, the first and second web server agents each providing an interface between the web service system and the first and second computers respectively;

transmitting at least the portion of the file from the first web server agent to the second web server agent; and

storing, by the second web server agent, at least the portion of the transmitted file.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the identifying step comprises identifying the entirety of the file;

the transmitting step comprises transmitting the entirety of the file; and

the storing step comprises storing, by the second web server agent, the entirety of the transmitted file.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of repeating the identifying, transmitting, and storing steps.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the identifying step comprises the step of identifying a portion of the file that was not previously transmitted.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of repeating the identifying, transmitting, and storing steps, and wherein the identifying step comprises the step of identifying a portion of the file containing content added subsequent to any previous identifying step.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising, before the identifying step, the step of executing a program that operates on the file.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying step comprises identifying, by the first web server agent, at least a portion of the file, which comprises a log file about user requests to the web server.

8. A method of transmitting content, comprising the steps of:

determining, by a first web server agent running on a first computer in a web service system, that a first file with a first name was renamed to a second name such that the first file has the second name and a second file has the first name, the web service system providing web pages in response to web page requests;

identifying the first file having the second name;

notifying a second web server agent running on a second computer in the web service system that the first file was renamed;

transmitting at least a portion of the first file from the first web server agent to a second web server agent;

identifying the second file having the first name;

transmitting a portion of the second file from the first web server agent to the second web server agent.

9. A method of transmitting content, comprising the steps of:

identifying, by a first web server agent running on a first computer in the web service system, a computer program, the web service system providing web pages in response to web page requests, the first web server agent providing an interface between the web service system and the first computer;

running, by the first web server agent, the computer program;

transmitting the output of the computer program from the first web server agent to a second web server agent running on a second computer in the web service system; and

storing by the second web server agent, the computer program output.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein:

the identifying step comprises identifying the entirety of the file;

the transmitting step comprises transmitting the entirety of the file; and

the storing step comprises storing, by the second web server agent, the entirety of the transmitted file.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising the step of repeating the identifying, transmitting, and storing steps.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the identifying step comprises the step of identifying a portion of the file that was not previously transmitted.

13. The method of claim 9 further comprising the step of repeating the identifying, transmitting, and storing steps, and wherein the identifying step comprises the step of identifying a portion of the file containing content added subsequent to any previous identifying step.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising, before the identifying step, the step of executing a program that operates on the file.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the identifying step comprises identifying, by the first web server agent, at least a portion of the file, which comprises a log file about user requests to the web server.

16. A method of transmitting content, comprising the steps of:

identifying, by a first web server agent running on a first computer in a web service system, at least a portion of a file for transmission to a second web server agent running on a second computer in the web service system, the web service system providing web pages in response to web page requests, the first web server agent providing an interface between the web service system and the first computer;

transmitting at least the portion of the file from the first web server agent to the second web server agent; and

providing by the second web server agent, the received portion of transmitted file as input to a computer program.

17. A method of transmitting content, comprising the steps of:

identifying, by a first web server agent running on a first computer in the web service system, a computer program, the web service system providing web pages in response to web page requests, the first web server agent providing an interface between the web service system and the first computer;

running by the first web server agent the computer program;

transmitting the output of the computer program from the first web server agent to a second web server agent running on a second computer in the web service system; and

providing by the second web server agent, the received portion of transmitted file as input to a computer program.

18. A system for transmitting content, comprising the steps of:

a first web server agent running on a first computer in a web service system, the web service system providing web pages in response to web page requests, the first web server agent providing an interface between the web service system and the first computer, the first web server agent identifying at least a portion of a file for transmission to a second web server agent running on a second computer in the web service system, the first computer comprising a transmitter for transmitting at least the portion of the file from the first web server agent to the second web server agent; and

wherein the second computer comprises a storage medium for storing, by the second web server agent, at least the portion of the transmitted file.

19. A computer program for transmitting content embodied on a computer-readable medium, comprising:

an identification code segment for identifying, by a first web server agent running on a first computer in a web service system, at least a portion of a file for transmission to a second web server agent running on a second computer in the web service system, the web service system providing web pages in response to web page requests, the first and second web server agents each providing an interface between the web service system and the first and second computers respectively;

a transmitting code segment for transmitting at least the portion of the file from the first web server agent to the second web server agent.