FILE STORAGE APPARATUS, FILE STORAGE METHOD, AND PROGRAM

• US 20130080403A1
• Filed: 06/09/2011
• Published: 03/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Yamakawa, Satoshi
• Granted Patent: US 8,972,358 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/690
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1794 Details of file format conversion
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0608 Saving storage space on storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0641 De-duplication techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0661 Format or protocol conversion arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

A file storage apparatus comprises: duplication determination unit that determines whether file supplied from client apparatus and file stored in storage unit coincide with each other in same format, and stores the file supplied from client apparatus in the storage unit if the files do not coincide in the same format; and storage management unit that associates, if duplication determination unit determines that the files coincide in the same format, format of the file supplied from the client apparatus with the file stored in the storage unit, reads file stored in the storage unit in response to file read request from client apparatus, converts, if format associated with the read file exists, the read file into the format, and provides the converted file.

Claims

1. A file storage apparatus, comprising:

a duplication determination unit that determines whether or not a file supplied from a client apparatus and a file stored in a storage unit coincide with each other in a same format, and stores the file supplied from the client apparatus in the storage unit if the files do not coincide with each other in the same format; and

a storage management unit that associates, if the duplication determination unit determines that the files coincide with each other in the same format, a format of the file supplied from the client apparatus with the file stored in the storage unit, reads a file stored in the storage unit in response to a file read request from a client apparatus, converts, if a format associated with the read file exists, the read file into the format, and provides the converted file.

2. The file storage apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

if similarity between feature information extracted from the file supplied from the client apparatus and feature information extracted from the file stored in the storage unit is not less than a predetermined threshold, the duplication determination unit determines that the files coincide with each other.

3. The file storage apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

if the file supplied from the client apparatus is an image file, the duplication determination unit extracts color information and/or shape information about an image as the feature information.

4. The file storage apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the duplication determination unit determines whether or not a file supplied from the client apparatus and a file stored in the storage unit coincide with each other in a same resolution, and stores the file supplied from the client apparatus in the storage unit if the files do not coincide with each other in the same resolution, and

if the duplication determination unit determines that the files coincide with each other in the same resolution, the storage management unit associates a resolution of the file supplied from the client apparatus with the file stored in the storage unit, reads a file stored in the storage unit in response to a file read request from a client apparatus, converts, if a resolution associated with the read file exists, the read file into the resolution, and provides the converted file.

5. The file storage apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the duplication determination unit determines whether or not a file supplied from the client apparatus and a file stored in the storage unit coincide with each other in a same compression rate, and stores the file supplied from the client apparatus in the storage unit if the files do not coincide with each other in the same compression rate,

the storage management unit associates, if the duplication determination unit determines that the files coincide with each other in the same compression rate, a file size of the file supplied from the client apparatus with the file stored in the storage unit, reads a file stored in the storage unit in response to a file read request from a client apparatus, converts, if a file size associated with the read file exists, the read file into the file size, and provides the converted file.

6. The file storage apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising the storage unit.

7. A storage system, comprising:

the file storage apparatus according to claim 1; and

a plurality of client apparatuses sharing the file storage apparatus.

11. The file storage method according to claim 1, wherein

the determining comprises determining whether or not a file supplied from the client apparatus and a file stored in the storage unit coincide with each other in a same resolution,

if it is determined that the files coincide with each other in the same resolution, the associating comprises associating a resolution of the file supplied from the client apparatus with the file stored in the storage unit, and

the reading, the converting and the providing comprise reading a file stored in the storage unit in response to a file read request from a client apparatus, converting, if a resolution associated with the read file exists, the read file into the resolution, and providing the converted file.

12. The file storage method according to claim 1, wherein

the determining comprises determining whether or not a file supplied from the client apparatus and a file stored in the storage unit coincide with other in a same compression rate,

the associating comprises associating, if it is determined that the files coincide with each other in the same compression rate, a file size of the file supplied from the client apparatus with the file stored in the storage unit, and

the reading, the converting and the providing comprise reading a file stored in the storage unit in response to a file read request from a client apparatus, converting, if a file size associated with the read file exists, the read file into the file size, and providing the converted file.

8. A file storage method, comprising:

determining whether or not a file supplied from a client apparatus and a file stored in a storage unit coincide with each other in a same format;

storing the file supplied from the client apparatus in the storage unit if the files do not coincide with each other in the same format;

associating, if it is determined that the files coincide with each other in the same format, a format of the file supplied from the client apparatus with the file stored in the storage unit; and

reading a file stored in the storage unit in response to a file read request from a client apparatus, converting, if a format associated with the read file exists, the read file into the format, and providing the converted file.

9. The file storage method according to claim 8, wherein

the determining comprises, if similarity between feature information extracted from the file supplied from the client apparatus and feature information extracted from the file stored in the storage unit is not less than a predetermined threshold, determining that the files coincide with each other.

10. The file storage method according to claim 9, wherein

the determining comprises, if the file supplied from the client apparatus is an image file, extracting color information and/or shape information about an image as the feature information.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, storing a program that causes a computer to execute:

determining whether or not a file supplied from a client apparatus and a file stored in a storage unit coincide with each other in a same format;

storing the file supplied from the client apparatus in the storage unit if the files do not coincide with each other in the same format;

associating, if it is determined that the files coincide with each other in the same format, a format of the file supplied from the client apparatus with the file stored in the storage unit; and

reading a file stored in the storage unit in response to a file read request from a client apparatus, converting, if a format associated with the read file exists, the read file into the format, and providing the converted file.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 13, wherein

the determining comprises, if similarity between feature information extracted from the file supplied from the client apparatus and feature information extracted from the file stored in the storage unit is not less than a predetermined threshold, determining that the files coincide with each other.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 14, wherein

the determining comprises, if the file supplied from the client apparatus is an image file, extracting color information and/or shape information about an image as the feature information.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 13, wherein

the determining comprises determining whether or not a file supplied from the client apparatus and a file stored in the storage unit coincide with each other in a same resolution,

if it is determined that the files coincide with each other in the same resolution, the associating comprises associating a resolution of the file supplied from the client apparatus with the file stored in the storage unit, and

the reading, the converting and the providing comprise reading a file stored in the storage unit in response to a file read request from a client apparatus, converting, if a resolution associated with the read file exists, the read file into the resolution, and providing the converted file.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 13, wherein

the determining comprises determining whether or not a file supplied from the client apparatus and a file stored in the storage unit coincide with each other in a same compression rate,

the associating comprises associating, if it is determined that the files coincide with each other in the same compression rate, a file size of the file supplied from the client apparatus with the file stored in the storage unit, and

the reading, the converting and the providing comprise reading a file stored in the storage unit in response to a file read request from a client apparatus, converting, if a file size associated with the read file exists, the read file into the file size, and providing the converted file.