Multicast data distribution

• US 20060282510A1
• Filed: 06/13/2005
• Published: 12/14/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Preimesberger, Lee
• Granted Patent: US 8,281,025 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1854 with non-centralised forwarding system, e.g. chaincast

Abstract

A method of distributing a disk image by multicast includes a first computer downloading a disk image over a network, at least one second computer detecting the download and requesting the disk image, and the first computer multicasting the disk image to the at least one second computer.

Claims

1. A method of distributing data by multicast, comprising:

a first computer downloading data over a network;

at least one second computer detecting said download of said data;

said at least one second computer requesting said data; and

said first computer multicasting said data to said at least one second computer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said first computer completes downloading said data before beginning said multicasting.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising said first computer repeatedly broadcasting an indication that said data is being downloaded.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said at least one second computer detects said download by reading said broadcasted indication.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein if said first computer stops broadcasting said indication one of said at least one second computers begins downloading said data over said network.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said one of said at least one second computers multicasts said data after downloading if any other computers request said data during said download.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein if said multicast is not successfully completed, one of said at least one second computers begins downloading said data over said network.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said one of said at least one second computers multicasts said data after downloading if any other computers request said data during said download.

9. The method of claim 1, said data comprising a disk image.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising overwriting a hard drive with said data after said data is received.

11. An apparatus for distributing electronic data, comprising:

a. at least one computer readable medium; and

b. computer readable program code stored on said at least one computer readable medium, said computer readable program code comprising;

i. code for receiving notification that said electronic data is being downloaded by a device on a network; and

ii. code for broadcasting at least one request for said electronic data over said network; and

iii. code for receiving a multicast of said electronic data from said device after said download is complete.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, said computer readable program code further comprising code for downloading said electronic data if no notification is received or if said device becomes unresponsive.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising code for receiving requests for said electronic data over said network while said electronic data is being downloaded and for responding with a multicast address.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising code for repeatedly broadcasting an indication that said electronic data is being downloaded during said downloading.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising code for multicasting said electronic data after said downloading is complete if any said requests were received while said electronic data was being downloaded.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said electronic data comprises a disk image.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein said disk image is identified by at least one element selected from the group consisting of a hash value, disk image size, and parameters of the target hard drive.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising code for overwriting a hard drive with said disk image after said disk image is downloaded or received by multicast.

19. The apparatus of claim 11, said code for broadcasting at least one request comprising code for repeatedly broadcasting said request at least until said multicast begins.

20. An apparatus for duplicating computer disk drives by multicast, comprising:

means for transferring a disk image from a disk image server to a first computer;

means for at least one second computer to learn of said disk image being transferred to said first computer; and

means for transferring said disk image from said first computer to said at least one second computer by multicasting said disk image.