Method and System for Forming a Virtual File System at a Computing Device

• US 20120054253A1
• Filed: 08/27/2010
• Published: 03/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Beijing Innovation Works Technology Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Beijing Innovation Works Technology Company Limited
• Inventors: Guarraci, Brian J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,489,654 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/825
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/188 Virtual file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor

Abstract

A method for forming a virtual file system associated with a distributed storage system is implemented at a computing device communicatively connected to the distributed storage system. The computing device retrieves one or more metadata blocks associated with the virtual file system from the plurality of storage devices. After rendering a commit tree for the virtual file system, the computing device builds an instance of the virtual file system by traversing a plurality of directory nodes and file nodes associated with the tree in a recursive manner. For a respective directory node, the computing device creates a directory in accordance with the metadata associated with the directory node; for a respective file node, the computing device retrieves one or more data blocks from the plurality of storage devices in accordance with the metadata associated with the file node and creates a file using the retrieved data blocks.

Claims

1-21. -21. (canceled)

22. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

at a computing device;

receiving a request for forming a virtual file system at the computing device, wherein the virtual file system is associated with a plurality of storage devices;

in response to the request, retrieving one or more metadata blocks from at least one of the plurality of storage devices;

rendering a commit tree for the virtual file system by processing the retrieved metadata blocks in a predefined order, wherein the commit tree includes a plurality of directory nodes and file nodes, each directory node or file node having metadata corresponding to a respective directory or file of the virtual file system; and

building an instance of the virtual file system at the computing device by traversing the plurality of directory nodes and file nodes in a recursive manner, further including;

generating a directory at the computing device in accordance with the metadata associated with a respective directory node;

retrieving one or more data blocks from at least one of the plurality of storage devices in accordance with the metadata associated with a respective file node; and

generating a file at the computing device using the retrieved data blocks.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein the plurality of storage devices include at least one storage device local to the computing device and at least one storage device remote from the computing device.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 23, wherein the at least remote one storage device is associated with a cloud storage service provided by a third party.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein retrieving one or more metadata blocks from at least one of the plurality of storage devices further includes:

selecting an adapter for a respective storage device that has one or more metadata blocks; and

causing the selected adapter to issue one or more requests for the metadata blocks stored at the respective storage device.

26. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein the virtual file system is configured to fetch a client-requested file from at least one of the plurality of storage devices in an on-demand fashion.

27. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein the request is issued by an application running on the computing device.

28. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein the request is issued by a user of the computing device.

29. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein the computing device is one selected from the group consisting of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, and a mobile telephone.

30. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein the computing device has a local file system and the local file system includes directories and files associated with the virtual file system.

31. The computer-implemented method of claim 30, wherein a total size of the local file system is less than a total size of the virtual file system.

32. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein the commit tree includes one or more commit tree branches, each commit tree branch corresponding to a respective revision of the virtual file system.

33. The computer-implemented method of claim 32, wherein a respective commit tree branch includes at least a commit node, a directory node, and a file node, and the commit tree branch is configured such that the commit node includes a reference to the directory node and the directory node includes a reference to the file node.

34. The computer-implemented method of claim 32, wherein a respective commit tree branch includes at least one reference to another commit tree branch and the two commit tree branches correspond to two consecutive revisions of the virtual file systems.

35. The computer-implemented method of claim 34, wherein there is at least one difference between the two consecutive revisions of the virtual file systems.

36. The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein the data blocks associated with the file are retrieved from the plurality of storage devices in response to a request for the file after the formation of the virtual file system.

37. The computer-implemented method of claim 36, wherein at least one of the data blocks associated with the file is shared by two revisions of the file.

38. The computer-implemented method of claim 36, wherein at least one of the data blocks associated with the file is shared with a different file of the virtual file system.

39. The computer-implemented method of claim 36, wherein at least one of the data blocks associated with the file is dynamically generated from another data block associated with a different file of the virtual file system.

40. A computing device in association with a distributed storage system that includes a plurality of storage devices, comprising:

one or more processors;

memory; and

one or more programs stored in the memory for execution by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for;

receiving a request for forming a virtual file system at the computing device, wherein the virtual file system is associated with a plurality of storage devices;

in response to the request, retrieving one or more metadata blocks from at least one of the plurality of storage devices;

rendering a commit tree for the virtual file system by processing the retrieved metadata blocks in a predefined order, wherein the commit tree includes a plurality of directory nodes and file nodes, each directory node or file node having metadata corresponding to a respective directory or file of the virtual file system; and

building an instance of the virtual file system at the computing device by traversing the plurality of directory nodes and file nodes in a recursive manner, further including;

generating a directory at the computing device in accordance with the metadata associated with a respective directory node;

retrieving one or more data blocks from at least one of the plurality of storage devices in accordance with the metadata associated with a respective file node; and

generating a file at the computing device using the retrieved data blocks.

41. A computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured for execution by a computing device having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors in association with a distributed storage system that includes a plurality of storage devices, the one or more programs comprising instructions to:

receive a request for forming a virtual file system at the computing device, wherein the virtual file system is associated with a plurality of storage devices;

in response to the request, retrieve one or more metadata blocks from at least one of the plurality of storage devices;

render a commit tree for the virtual file system by processing the retrieved metadata blocks in a predefined order, wherein the commit tree includes a plurality of directory nodes and file nodes, each directory node or file node having metadata corresponding to a respective directory or file of the virtual file system; and

build an instance of the virtual file system at the computing device by traversing the plurality of directory nodes and file nodes in a recursive manner, further including;

generate a directory at the computing device in accordance with the metadata associated with a respective directory node;

retrieve one or more data blocks from at least one of the plurality of storage devices in accordance with the metadata associated with a respective file node; and

generate a file at the computing device using the retrieved data blocks.