Highly Available Clustered Storage Network
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computing system comprising:
- a plurality of storage servers coupled with long-term storage devices;
a communication network;
a plurality of storage clients;
each storage server adapted to communicate via unicast, broadcast or multicast;
each storage server further adapted to store files on a long term basis and process file system requests by the storage client;
each storage server further adapted to asynchronously join and leave the communication network;
each storage server further adapted to automatically mirror files to at least one other storage server such that at least one complete copy of a file remains when a storage server permanently disconnects from the network;
each storage server further adapted to gracefully degrade the file system and provide availability with up to N-(N−
1) system failures;
and each storage server further adapted to use a distributed meta-data storage system.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computing method and system is presented that allows multiple heterogeneous computing systems containing file storage mechanisms to work together in a peer-to-peer fashion to provide a fault-tolerant decentralized highly available clustered file system. The file system can be used by multiple heterogeneous systems to store and retrieve files. The system automatically ensures fault tolerance by storing files in multiple locations and requires hardly any configuration for a computing device to join the clustered file system. Most importantly, there is no central authority regarding meta-data storage, ensuring no single point of failure.
156 Citations
30 Claims
-
1. A computing system comprising:
-
a plurality of storage servers coupled with long-term storage devices; a communication network; a plurality of storage clients; each storage server adapted to communicate via unicast, broadcast or multicast; each storage server further adapted to store files on a long term basis and process file system requests by the storage client; each storage server further adapted to asynchronously join and leave the communication network; each storage server further adapted to automatically mirror files to at least one other storage server such that at least one complete copy of a file remains when a storage server permanently disconnects from the network; each storage server further adapted to gracefully degrade the file system and provide availability with up to N-(N−
1) system failures;and each storage server further adapted to use a distributed meta-data storage system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A method for utilizing a computer system and network for the highly-available, fault-tolerant, storage of file data comprising:
-
pairing a storage server in the network with a long-term storage device; designating a method of communication via the network that includes unicast, multicast and broadcast messaging; designating at least one storage client to access the storage servers to store and retrieve file data; querying the storage servers for information without relying on a central authority or super-nodes; immediately mirroring information, meta-data and file data between at least two storage servers in the network when possible; - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
-
Specification