CLOUD CONNECTOR FOR INTERFACING BETWEEN A NETWORK ATTACHED STORAGE DEVICE AND A CLOUD STORAGE SYSTEM

• US 20110276713A1
• Filed: 07/21/2011
• Published: 11/10/2011
• 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 8,924,511 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/232
• 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 cloud connector for interfacing between a network attached storage device and a cloud storage system (CSS). The cloud connector comprises a unified cloud protocol module for communicating with the network attached storage (NAS) device using a cloud transport protocol; a plurality of cloud protocol drivers for interfacing with at least one of a plurality of storage devices and a plurality of cloud storage providers, wherein the plurality of storage devices and the plurality of cloud storage providers are part of the CSS; and a permissions-and-quotas enforcement module for enforcing access control to data blocks stored in at least one the plurality of storage devices and the plurality of cloud storage providers of the CSS.

Claims

1. A cloud connector for interfacing between a network attached storage device and a cloud storage system (CSS), comprising:

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

a plurality of cloud protocol drivers for interfacing with at least one of a plurality of storage devices and a plurality of cloud storage providers, wherein the plurality of storage devices and the plurality of cloud storage providers are part of the CSS; and

a permissions-and-quotas enforcement module for enforcing access control to data blocks stored in at least one the plurality of storage devices and the plurality of cloud storage providers of the CSS.

2. The cloud connector of claim 1, further comprising:

a cloud cache module for caching at least frequently accessed data blocks stored in at least one of the plurality of storage devices and the plurality of cloud storage providers of the CSS;

a storage balancing module for performing load balancing at least among the plurality of cloud storage providers; and

a service entitlement database for determining if a user of the network attached storage device is entitled to access one of the plurality of cloud storage providers according to a service level agreement (SLA) guaranteed to the user.

3. The cloud connector of claim 2, wherein the service entitlement database stores the SLA for each user having an access to the network attached storage device.

4. The cloud connector of claim 3, wherein the SLA includes at least storage and bandwidth quotas guaranteed to each user.

5. The cloud connector of claim 1, wherein the unified cloud protocol module translates the cloud transport protocol to different proprietary protocols utilized by the plurality of cloud storage devices.

6. The cloud connector of claim 1, wherein the cloud transport protocol provides secure communication with the network attached storage device and message framing for transporting arbitrary length of messages.

7. The cloud connector of claim 6, wherein the cloud transport protocol further provides an authentication procedure by which the network attached storage device authenticates to the CSS.

8. The cloud connector of claim 2, wherein the storage balancing module balances the load based on at least one of:

cost for utilizing a cloud service provider, reliability of a cloud service provider, and performance of a cloud service provider out of the plurality of cloud service providers.

9. A cloud storage system (CSS), comprising:

a plurality of storage devices;

a plurality of cloud storage providers that provide at least a platform for storing data; and

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

10. The cloud storage system of claim 9, further comprises a web portal that provides an access for files maintained in the CSS using a web-based interface.

11. The cloud storage system of claim 10, wherein the web portal enables file-based operations of the files maintained in the CSS.

12. The cloud storage system of claim 9, wherein the plurality of storage devices are organized in device groups.

13. The cloud storage system of claim 12, wherein the device groups share a single encryption key for performing block encryption.

14. The cloud storage system of claim 13, wherein the cloud connector facilitates a communication between the network attached storage device and the plurality of cloud storage providers using a cloud transport protocol.

15. The cloud storage system of claim 14, wherein the cloud transport protocol provides secure communication with the network attached storage device and message framing for transporting arbitrary length of messages.

16. The cloud storage system of claim 15, wherein the cloud transport protocol further provides an authentication procedure by which the network attached storage device authenticates to the CSS.

17. The cloud storage system of claim 16, wherein the load balancer balances the storage of data blocks received from the network attached storage among the plurality of cloud storage providers.

18. The cloud storage system of claim 16, wherein the load balancing is based on at least one of:

cost for utilizing a cloud service provider, reliability of a cloud service provider, and performance of a cloud service provider out of the plurality of cloud service providers.