Efficient object distribution

• US 20090150474A1
• Filed: 12/11/2007
• Published: 06/11/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Schneider, James P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,589,592 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/201
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

A method and apparatus for distributing objects over a network. In one embodiment, the method comprises sending a request from a first network entity to a second network entity, the request including a compressed representation of deployed objects that are currently deployed at the first network entity. The method further comprises the first network entity receiving from the second network entity a difference between the deployed objects and objects to be deployed on the first network entity as indicated by the second network entity.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

sending a request from a first network entity to a second network entity, the request including a compressed representation of deployed objects that are currently deployed at the first network entity; and

the first network entity receiving, from the second network entity, a difference between the deployed objects and objects to be deployed on the first network entity as indicated by the second network entity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network entity is a client and the second network entity is a server.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network entity and the second network entity are peers.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the objects are policy objects, each policy object including a collection of rules.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the objects are configuration objects.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving updates further comprises:

receiving, from the second network entity, zero or more data objects to be added to the deployed objects, and zero or more identifiers of the deployed objects to be deleted.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein sending a request further comprises:

hashing, at the first network entity, each of the deployed objects to produce the compressed representation of the deployed objects.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

The method of claim 1, wherein the first network entity is a client and the second network entity is a server.

8. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

managing, at a second network entity, objects to be deployed on a first network entity, each of the objects identified by an associated master fingerprint;

in response to a request from the first network entity, the second network entity comparing fingerprints received from the first network entity with master fingerprints to determine a difference between the deployed objects currently deployed on the first network entity and the object to be deployed on the first network entity; and

sending the difference from the second network entity to the first network entity to enable an update to the deployed objects.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

hashing each of the objects to be deployed on the first network network entity to produce the associated master fingerprint.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the first network entity and the second network entity are peers.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the objects are policy objects, each policy object including a collection of rules.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the objects are configuration objects.

14. A system comprising:

data storage to store objects for a first network entity, the master list including the objects to be deployed on the network entity; and

a second network entity coupled to the data storage, the second network entity to receive, over a network, a compressed representation of deployed objects that are currently deployed on the first network entity, and to send, over the network, a difference between the deployed objects and the objects to be deployed on the first network entity to the first network entity to enable an update to the deployed objects.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the second network entity further comprises:

a comparator to compare the compressed representation of the deployed objects and the compressed representation of the objects to be deployed on the first network entity to determine the difference.

16. A system comprising:

data storage to store deployed objects that are currently deployed at a first network entity; and

the first network entity coupled to the data storage, the first network entity to send, over a network, a request with a compressed representation of the deployed objects, and to receive, over the network, a difference between the deployed objects and objects that to be deployed on the first network entity as indicated by a second network entity.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

a hashing unit to hash each of the deployed objects to generate the compressed representation.

18. A computer readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing system, cause the processing system to perform a method comprising:

sending a request from a first network entity to a second network entity, the request including a compressed representation of deployed objects that are currently deployed at the first network entity; and

the first network entity receiving, from the second network entity, a difference between the deployed objects and objects to be deployed on the first network entity as indicated by the second network entity.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the objects are policy objects or configuration objects.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises:

hashing, at the first network entity, each of the deployed objects to produce the compressed representation of the deployed objects.

21. A computer readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing system, cause the processing system to perform a method comprising:

managing, at a second network entity, objects to be deployed on a first network entity, each of the objects identified by an associated master fingerprint;

in response to a request from the first network entity, the second network entity comparing fingerprints received from the first network entity with master fingerprints to determine a difference between the deployed objects currently deployed on the first network entity and the object to be deployed on the first network entity; and

sending the difference from the second network entity to the first network entity to enable an update to the deployed objects.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein the objects are policy objects or configuration objects.