STORAGE DEVICE AND METHOD THEREOF FOR INTEGRATING NETWORK ATTACHED STORAGE WITH CLOUD STORAGE SERVICES

• US 20100161759A1
• Filed: 12/18/2009
• Published: 06/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CTERA Networks Limited
• Original Assignee: CTERA Networks Limited
• Inventors: Brand, Aron
• Granted Patent: US 9,614,924 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/218
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/178 Techniques for file synchronisation in file systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• 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]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/04 Protocols for data compression, e.g. ROHC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0618 Block ciphers, i.e. encrypting groups of characters of a plain text message using fixed encryption transformation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3242 involving keyed hash functions, e.g. message authentication codes [MACs], CBC-MAC or HMAC

Abstract

A network attached storage device for performing network attached storage operations with cloud storage services. The device comprises at least one network controller for communicating with a plurality of clients over a local area network (LAN) and with a cloud storage service (CSS) over a wide area network (WAN); a plurality of storage devices for locally storing data in the device; a CSS module for at least synchronizing between data locally stored in the plurality of storage devices and data stored in the CSS; and a processor for enabling the plurality of clients to perform file-based operations on the device using a file sharing protocol.

Claims

1. A network attached storage device for performing network attached storage operations with cloud storage services, comprising:

at least one network controller for communicating with a plurality of clients over a local area network (LAN) and with a cloud storage service (CSS) over a wide area network (WAN);

a plurality of storage devices for locally storing data in the device;

a CSS module for at least synchronizing between data locally stored in the plurality of storage devices and data stored in the CSS; and

a processor for enabling the plurality of clients to perform file-based operations on the device using a file sharing protocol.

2. The device of claim 1, further comprising:

a network attach storage (NAS) module for emulating the device as a NAS device; and

a plurality of storage controllers for controlling the plurality of storage devices.

3. The device of claim 2, further including a non-volatile memory for saving settings and configuration parameters.

4. The device of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of storage controllers is at least one of a small computer system interface (SCSI), a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA), a universal serial bus (USB), a fibre channel (FC), and a serial attached SCSI (SAS).

5. The device of claim 1, wherein synchronizing the data further comprising:

marking all data files that have been changed since the last synchronization;

dividing all marked files into variable size blocks;

assigning each block with a unique code;

determining which blocks have been modified using the unique codes of the blocks; and

synchronizing the modified blocks such that both the CSS and the storage devices include a consistent version of each file that has been changed.

6. The device of claim 2, wherein the CSS includes:

plurality of cloud connectors enabling connections between the device and remote storage devices and connections between the device and third party cloud storage providers; and

a web portal allows for at least accessing files maintained by the CSS using a web interface.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein the remote storage devices and the third party cloud storage providers reside in one or more data centers.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the file sharing protocol is at least a network file system (NFS) and a common internet file system (CIFS).

9. The device of claim 1, further comprising:

a virtual cloud drive utilized for exposing files stored in the CSS.

10. A method for synchronizing data files between a network attached storage device and a cloud storage service (CSS), wherein the CSS is geographically distributed from the storage device, comprising:

marking all data files that have been changed since the last synchronization;

dividing all marked files into variable size blocks;

assigning each block with a unique code;

determining which blocks have been modified using the unique codes of the blocks; and

synchronizing the modified blocks such that both the CSS and the storage device include a consistent version of each file that has been changed.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein synchronizing the modified blocks further comprises:

determining which of the CSS or the storage device holds an oldest version of a modified block;

transmitting the modified block from the CSS to the storage device, if the storage device holds the older version; and

transmitting the modified block from the storage device to the CSS, if the CSS holds the older version.

12. The method claim 11, wherein transmitting the modified block further comprises:

encrypting and compressing the modified block.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein blocks are transmitted using a cloud transport protocol.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein determining which blocks have been modified further comprises:

exchanging a file map between the CSS and the storage device, wherein the file map contains the block codes of all modified blocks in a file; and

exchanging a list of modified blocks which are not stored either in the CSS or the storage device, wherein modified blocks in the list are transferred between the CSS and the storage device.

15. A computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable code, when executed causing a processor to perform the process of synchronizing data files between a network attached storage device and a cloud storage service (CSS), wherein the CSS is geographically distributed from the storage device, comprising:

marking all data files that have been changed since the last synchronization;

dividing all marked files into variable size blocks;

assigning each block with a unique code;

determining which blocks have been modified using the unique codes of the blocks; and

synchronizing the modified blocks such that both the CSS and the storage device include a consistent version of each file that has been changed.

16. A cloud storage service (CSS) comprising:

a plurality of cloud connectors for interfacing with a network attached storage device and a plurality of cloud storage providers and a plurality storage devices; and

a web portal allows for at least accessing files maintained by the CSS using a web interface.

17. A cloud connector, comprising:

a unified cloud protocol module for communicating with a network attached storage (NAS) device using a cloud transport protocol;

a permissions-and-quotas enforcement module for enforcing access control to data blocks;

a service entitlement database for including a service level agreement (SLA) of each customer subscribed to a third party cloud storage service;

a cloud cache module (CCM) for caching at least frequently accessed data blocks;

a storage balancing module for performing load balancing at least among multiple cloud storage providers; and

a plurality cloud protocol drivers for interfacing with at least one of a plurality storage devices installed in a cloud storage service (CSS) and cloud storage providers.