Managing stored data on a computer network

• US 20060026263A1
• Filed: 09/27/2005
• Published: 02/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Raciborski, Bohdan, Raghavan, Kartik N., Phillips, Thomas G.
• Application Number:
  US11/236,233
• Publication Number:
  US 20060026263A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/45 Network directories; Name-to-address mapping
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method and system for managing stored data on a computer network organizes data into logical volumes, and each logical volume has a friendly name associated with it. A domain controller keeps track of the friendly names of the logical volumes and associates those friendly names with the actual physical paths of the logical volumes. When a client computer on the network wishes to access a logical volume, it sends a look-up request having the friendly name to the domain controller. The domain controller may fulfill the request by sending the path of the logical volume to the client computer.

Claims

1. A method for managing stored data on a computer network, the computer network comprising at least a first, a second, and a third node, the first node comprising a server, the second node comprising a storage device, and the third node comprising a client computer, the method comprising:

the server computer receiving, from the client computer, a request for the path of a logical volume stored on the computer network, the request including a name of the logical volume;

the server computer referencing a data structure comprising an association between the name of the logical volume and a path of the logical volume; and

the server computer providing the path to the client computer, thereby permitting the client computer to access the logical volume via the computer network.

2. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the server computer determining whether the client computer is permitted to have access to the logical volume; and

the server computer performing the providing step based on the determining step.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining step comprises referencing an access control list.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining step comprises verifying a certificate received from the client computer.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining step comprises referencing permission information in the data structure.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the referencing step comprises:

locating the name of the logical volume in the data structure;

determining the identity of a storage device on the network that is responsible for and maintaining the logical volume; and

determining which logical unit number of the storage device corresponds to the logical volume,

wherein the providing step comprises transmitting, to the client computer, the identity of the storage device and the logical unit number.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the referencing step comprises:

locating the world-wide name of the logical volume in the data structure; and

determining the identity of a storage device on the network that is responsible for maintaining the logical volume,

wherein the providing step comprises transmitting, to the client computer, the identity of the storage device and the world-wide name of the logical volume.