System and method for determining target failback and target priority for a distributed file system
First Claim
1. In a computer system, a method for locating a file in a network of computers, the method comprising:
- requesting, from a client computer, a location of a file located on at least one server computer in a network of server computers;
determining a plurality of locations in the network of server computers in which the requested file is located;
returning a list of targets to the client computer, the list of targets comprising a plurality of referrals that each correspond to a requested file location in the network of server computers;
sorting the list of targets into bounded sets based on target information for retrieving the requested file between each respective file location and the client computer; and
providing an indication of the bounded sets to the client computer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for organizing and sorting targets received in a referral response and for realizing a target fail-back and a target priority policy in a distributed file system is provided. In one embodiment, a sorting method includes receiving a referral response in the form of a list of targets that are sorted into bounded sets. Having a sorted referral response in bounded sets provides a basis for implementing a target fail-back and a target priority policy. The computer system may select a target from a sorted list of targets sorted according to site-cost and/or target priority. Then, the computer system may determine if the set target is associated with a more preferred target when compared to all available targets in the sorted list and if not, switch back to a more preferred target.
82 Citations
20 Claims
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1. In a computer system, a method for locating a file in a network of computers, the method comprising:
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requesting, from a client computer, a location of a file located on at least one server computer in a network of server computers;
determining a plurality of locations in the network of server computers in which the requested file is located;
returning a list of targets to the client computer, the list of targets comprising a plurality of referrals that each correspond to a requested file location in the network of server computers;
sorting the list of targets into bounded sets based on target information for retrieving the requested file between each respective file location and the client computer; and
providing an indication of the bounded sets to the client computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A distributed computing system, comprising:
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a server computer operably coupled to a network, the active directory server computer operable to provide a list of targets to one or more client computers in response to requests for targets, each target corresponding to a file located on a computer in the network, the file requested by the one or more client computers, the active directory server computer also operable to sort the list of targets according to an assessment of a site-cost associated with each target, the site-cost indicative of a cost associated with retrieving a file from a server computer corresponding to the target to the client computer requesting the target;
at least one client computer coupled to the network, the client computer operable to request and retrieve files from other computers coupled to the network; and
at least one server computer having a requested file thereon that corresponds to at least one of the targets provided by the active directory server computer. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A computer-readable medium having a data structure stored thereon, the data structure comprising:
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a first field for storing a target belonging to a group of targets, each associated with a server computer;
a second field for storing information indicating a relationship between a client computer and the server computer; and
a third field for storing a value indicative of a boundary of the group of targets.
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Specification