Automated storage management of files, including computer-readable files
First Claim
1. A method of managing storage capacity on at least a portion of one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon a plurality of digital files, comprising computer-implemented acts of:
- (A) determining whether an amount of storage space consumed by said plurality of digital files has reached a threshold value; and
(B) if the threshold value has been reached;
(1) selecting one or more digital files of the plurality for removal from said media based, at least in part, on a likelihood that the one or more digital files will be requested by a user in the future and not solely on an amount of time that has elapsed since the one or more digital files was created or last accessed, and (2) removing the one or more selected digital files from the media.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Automated systems and processes for managing paper and/or digital files, particularly medical records contained in digital files, digital or paper file folders and the like, in a file storage system having a finite size or expansion capacity. For paper files, a system tracks the thickness of individual file folders, the capacity of storage shelf sections, and the percentage of free space remaining in each shelf section. When occupied shelf space exceeds a threshold percentage for a shelf section, file folders are purged according to the likelihood that certain files will not be requested in the future, by applying purging algorithms to the files. For digital files, when a cumulative amount of storage space consumed by digital files reaches a certain threshold, typically less than the capacity, digital files are purged from the storage allocation according to an algorithm assessing a likelihood that certain files will not be requested in the future.
-
Citations
90 Claims
-
1. A method of managing storage capacity on at least a portion of one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon a plurality of digital files, comprising computer-implemented acts of:
-
(A) determining whether an amount of storage space consumed by said plurality of digital files has reached a threshold value; and
(B) if the threshold value has been reached;
(1) selecting one or more digital files of the plurality for removal from said media based, at least in part, on a likelihood that the one or more digital files will be requested by a user in the future and not solely on an amount of time that has elapsed since the one or more digital files was created or last accessed, and (2) removing the one or more selected digital files from the media. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. A system for managing storage capacity on at least a portion of one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon a plurality of digital files, comprising:
a storage controller to determine whether an amount of storage space consumed by said plurality of digital files has reached a threshold value, and, if the threshold value has been reached, to;
select one or more digital files of the plurality for removal from said media based, at least in part, on a likelihood that the one or more digital files will be requested by a user in the future and not solely on an amount of time that has elapsed since the one or more digital files was created or last accessed, and remove the one or more selected digital files from the media. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
-
45. A computer program product comprising:
-
a computer-readable medium; and
computer-readable signals, stored on the computer-readable medium, that define instructions that, as a result of being executed by a computer, control the computer to perform a process of managing storage capacity on at least a portion of one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon a plurality of digital files, the process comprising acts of;
(A) determining whether an amount of storage space consumed by said plurality of digital files has reached a threshold value; and
(B) if the threshold value has been reached;
(1) selecting one or more digital files of the plurality for removal from said media based, at least in part, on a likelihood that the one or more digital files will be requested by a user in the future and not solely on an amount of time that has elapsed since the one or more digital files was created or last accessed, and (2) removing the one or more selected digital files from the media. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
-
-
67. A method of managing files in a storage area of a file storage facility, the storage area having an available storage capacity, the method comprising acts of:
-
(A) assigning a unique identifier to each file in the file storage area;
(B) for each file in the file storage area, tracking on a computer the size and content information for the file, using the unique identifier of the file;
(C) for each file in the file storage area, updating the size and content information of the file whenever the information changes;
(D) determining when the cumulative size of all of the files in the file storage area exceeds a threshold percentage of the available storage capacity for the storage area; and
(E) in response to the determination of the threshold being exceeded, (1) selecting files in the storage area based, at least in part, on a likelihood that the files will be requested by a user in the future and not solely on an amount of time that has elapsed since the files were created or last accessed, and (2) purging the selected files from the storage area to reduce the cumulative size is below the threshold percentage. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78)
-
-
79. A system for managing files in a storage area of a file storage facility, the storage area having an available storage capacity, the system comprising:
-
a unique identifier associated with each file in the file storage area;
a computer;
a database, coupled to the computer, have stored thereon a set of data for each file specifying the size and content information for the file and using the unique identifier of the file;
a storage controller operative to update, for each file, the size and content information of the data set of the file whenever the information changes, to determine whenever a cumulative size for all files within the storage area exceeds a threshold percentage of the available storage capacity for the storage section and, responsive to the determination that the threshold percentage is being exceeded, to;
select files in the storage area based, at least in part, on a likelihood that the files will be requested by a user in the future and not solely on an amount of time that has elapsed since the files were created or last accessed, and purge the selected files from the storage area to reduce the cumulative size below the threshold percentage. - View Dependent Claims (80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90)
-
Specification