Systems and methods for accessing a shared space in a provider-tenant environment by using middleware

• US 20080162660A1
• Filed: 12/29/2006
• Published: 07/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Becker, Wolfgang A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,739,348 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/213
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• 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]

Abstract

The present invention discloses methods and systems for hosting tenants in a computer-based environment in which a provider stores a shared data structure. Each of the tenants may communicate with a middleware module storing metadata referencing the shared data structure and a tenant-specific data structure specific to the first tenant for access by the first tenant. Based on the metadata and in response to a data request from the first tenant, the system may the query the provider or the first tenant for requested data and provide the requested data based on the querying.

Claims

1. A method for hosting, at a provider, a plurality of tenants over a network, the method comprising:

storing, at the provider, a shared data structure having shared data;

storing, at a first tenant of the plurality of tenants, a tenant-specific data structure that is specific to the first tenant for access by the first tenant;

receiving, at a middleware module, a data request from the first tenant; and

retrieving, in response to the request, the shared data structure from the provider when the request is for the shared data and the tenant-specific data structure from a tenant server of the first tenant when the request is for the tenant-specific data structure.

2. The method of claim 1, further including:

storing, at the middleware module, metadata defining an attribute of at least one of the shared data structure and the tenant-specific data structure.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

querying, based on the attribute, the provider and the first tenant for the requested data.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein querying further comprises:

querying the provider if the attribute indicates the requested data structure is a shared data structure; and

querying the first tenant if the attribute indicates the requested data is a tenant-specific data structure.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein querying further comprises:

querying the provider if the attribute indicates the requested data structure is a stored at the provider; and

querying the first tenant if the attribute indicates the requested data is stored at the first tenant.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the attribute indicates whether a particular data structure is shared by the plurality of tenants or specific to the first tenant.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

storing, at a second tenant of the plurality of tenants, a tenant-specific data structure specific to the second tenant for access by the second tenant;

storing, at the provider, the tenant-specific data structure specific to the first tenant and the tenant-specific data structure specific to the second tenant; and

wherein storing the metadata further includes generating the metadata based on the data structures stored at the provider.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating, by the provider, the shared-metadata based on data structure changes at the provider.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling the first tenant to have read-only access to the shared data structure.

10. A system for hosting, at a provider, a plurality of tenants over a network, the system comprising:

means for storing, at the provider, a shared data structure having shared data;

means for storing, at a first tenant of the plurality of tenants, a tenant-specific data structure that is specific to the first tenant for access by the first tenant;

means for receiving, at a middleware module, a data request from the first tenant; and

means for retrieving, in response to the request, the shared data structure from the provider when the request is for the shared data and the tenant-specific data structure from a tenant server of the first tenant when the request is for the tenant-specific data structure.

11. The system of claim 10, further including:

means for storing, at the middleware module, metadata defining an attribute of at least one of the shared data structure and the tenant-specific data structure.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

means for querying, based on the attribute, the provider and the first tenant for the requested data.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein querying further comprises:

means for querying the provider if the attribute indicates the requested data structure is a shared data structure; and

means for querying the first tenant if the attribute indicates the requested data is a tenant-specific data structure.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein querying further comprises:

means for querying the provider if the attribute indicates the requested data structure is a stored at the provider; and

means for querying the first tenant if the attribute indicates the requested data is stored at the first tenant.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the attribute indicates whether a particular data structure is shared by the plurality of tenants or specific to the first tenant.

16. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

means for storing, at a second tenant of the plurality of tenants, a tenant-specific data structure specific to the second tenant for access by the second tenant;

means for storing, at the provider, the tenant-specific data structure specific to the first tenant and the tenant-specific data structure specific to the second tenant; and

wherein storing the metadata further includes generating the metadata based on the data structures stored at the provider.

17. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

means for updating, by the provider, the shared-metadata based on data structure changes at the provider.

18. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

means for enabling the first tenant to have read-only access to the shared data structure.

19. A system for hosting a plurality of tenants over a network, the system comprising:

a provider that stores a shared data structure having shared data;

a first tenant of the plurality of tenants that stores a tenant-specific data structure that is specific to the first tenant for access by the first tenant; and

a middleware module for receiving a data request from the first tenant and, in response to the data request, retrieving the shared data structure from the provider when the request is for the shared data and for retrieving the tenant-specific data structure from a tenant server of the first tenant when the request is for the tenant-specific data structure.