CONTENT MANAGER

• US 20100138392A1
• Filed: 02/05/2010
• Published: 06/03/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Caspedia Corporation
• Original Assignee: Caspedia Corporation
• Inventors: Carroll, Michael Lee, Schweizer, Paul Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 8,180,737 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/652
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/113 Details of archiving lifecycle management in storage systems G06F3/0649; backup systems G06F11/1446
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/41 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures

Abstract

An archive for digital content comprises archive storage, an archive service and a manifest. The archive storage is a unified storage structure for storing items, such a directory having a plurality of subdirectories. The manifest is stored within the archive storage when the archive storage is loaded onto a storage device, and may comprise an index of items stored in the unified structure of the archive and/or an organizational structure that supports defined categories that characterize items stored in the unified structure and/or at least one backup queue that temporarily queues a list of items that satisfy predetermined backup criteria by have not been backed up. The archive service serves as an intermediate between users, e.g., operators, software modules, programs, services, etc., and the archive storage to control requests for access to items stored in the unified storage structure.

Claims

1. A computer program product to archive digital content comprising:

a computer usable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising;

computer usable program code configured to implement an archive storage area;

computer usable program code configured to implement a manifest that is stored within the archive storage area when the archive storage area is loaded onto a storage device, the manifest comprising an index of items stored in the unified structure of the archive;

computer usable program code configured to implement at least one backup queue that temporarily queues a list of items that satisfy predetermined backup criteria but have not been backed up; and

computer usable program code configured to implement and archive service that;

intermediates between software modules and the archive storage area to control requests for access to items stored in the unified storage structure by interacting with and correspondingly updating the index of the manifest as items are retrieved and stored in the unified storage structure; and

interacts with each backup queue to back up items stored in the archive storage area at predetermined times based upon predetermined backup criteria for each backup queue.

2. The computer program product according to claim 1, wherein the computer usable program code configured to implement at least one backup queue comprises:

computer usable program code configured to implement at least two types of backup queue, including at least a first type backup queue for backing up the archive onto at least one media storage device, and a second type backup queue for backing up the archive as a shadow copy.

3. The computer program product according to claim 2, wherein the computer usable program code configured to implement the first type backup queue comprises:

computer usable program code to back up selected items such that the backup is broken across a plurality of backup media.

4. The computer program product according to claim 2, wherein the computer usable program code configured to implement the second type backup queue comprises:

computer usable program code that backs up the entire archive as a replication of the archive contents, including at least the entire contents of the storage area and the manifest.

5. The computer program product according to claim 4, wherein the computer usable program code configured to implement the second type backup queue further comprises:

computer program code configured to implement a plurality of shadow copies, each shadow copy containing a marker that maintains a reference to the original source archive and an indication of that shadow'"'"'s backup queue as of the last time that shadow copy was updated from that backup queue.

6. The computer program product according to claim 4, wherein the computer usable program code configured to implement the second type backup queue further comprises:

computer program code configured to maintain a deleted files list such on a shadow copy update, deleted files are removed from the shadow copy and the files from a changed archive items list associated with the second type backup queue are copied to the shadow copy.

7. The computer program product according to claim 1, wherein the computer usable program code configured to implement at least one backup queue comprises:

computer usable program code configured to implement at least one backup onto a remote server across the Internet.

8. The computer program product according to claim 1, wherein the computer usable program code configured to implement at least one backup queue comprises:

computer usable program code configured to implement a plurality of backup queues, each backup queue having a different backup destination and a different set of guidelines as to when and what content to back up.

9. The computer program product according to claim 1, wherein the computer usable program code configured to implement at least one backup queue comprises:

computer usable program code configured to implement at least one backup queue that performs backup operations automatically whenever at least one of a triggering event and a predetermined condition occurs; and

computer usable program code configured to maintain and grow as necessary, the corresponding backup information until that backup copy location becomes available if the backup copy location is temporarily unavailable.

10. The computer program product according to claim 1, wherein the computer usable program code configured to implement at least one backup queue comprises:

computer usable program code configured to copy with each backup, a copy of at least one of;

a copy of the manifest and a backup queue content file that lists the items on the associated backup.

11. A computer program product to archive digital content comprising:

a computer usable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising;

computer usable program code configured to implement an archive storage area having a unified storage structure including a unitary archive folder such that all items stored in the archive storage are logically contained within the unitary archive folder;

computer usable program code configured to implement a manifest that is stored within the archive storage area when the archive storage area is loaded onto a storage device, the manifest comprising;

an index of items stored in the unified structure of the archive; and

an organizational structure that supports user-defined categories that perform at least one of;

characterizing, customizing and classifying, items stored in the unified structure; and

computer usable program code configured to implement and archive service that;

intermediates between software modules and the archive storage area to control requests for access to items stored in the unified storage structure by interacting with and correspondingly updating the index of the manifest as items are retrieved and stored in the unified storage structure; and

provides an interface that interacts with a user to manipulate and interact with the organizational structure to define user-defined views of the contents of the unified storage structure.

12. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the computer usable program code configured to implement a manifest comprises:

computer usable program code configured to construct the manifest in an open standard format.

13. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the computer usable program code configured to implement and archive service further comprises:

computer usable program code configured to maintain the manifest such that, as files are added to, edited and removed from the archive storage area, the manifest is updated by the archive service.

14. The computer program product according to claim 13, wherein the computer usable program code configured to maintain the manifest further comprises:

computer usable program code that saves the entire manifest in an atomic operation each time the manifest is updated.

15. The computer program product according to claim 11, further comprising:

computer usable program code that saves a copy of the current state of the manifest to a file upon an occurrence of a predetermined event such that multiple generations of the manifest are saved within the unified storage structure.

16. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the computer usable program code that implements the organizational structure through an interface of the archive service comprises:

computer usable program code that allows a user to have one or more different views of the items stored in the archive storage area by maintaining corresponding lists of related or otherwise associated items.

17. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the computer usable program code configured to implement and archive service comprises:

computer usable program code that supports an interface for providing searching and browsing to facilitate user interaction with the archive storage area.

18. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the computer usable program code configured to implement a manifest further comprises:

computer usable program code that comprises a check feature, which defines a message digest of item list information and secret information so as to throttle archive storage usage based on the activation state of the application and prevent tampering with the archive.

19. The computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the computer usable program code configured to implement a manifest further comprises:

computer usable program code that maintains;

a main manifest tag that contains the identity of the archive in addition to a checksum and identification information; and

a backup queue section that supports a plurality of backup queues.