APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING CONTENT FOR CLOUD COMPUTING

• US 20130238752A1
• Filed: 03/12/2013
• Published: 09/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Park, Yongsuk, Kim, Sun-Mi, Youn, Chan-Hyun, Sung, Dan-Keun, Kim, Tae-Hoon, Kim, Jin-Won, Kang, Dong-Ki, Kim, Hee-Jae, Park, Yong-Sung, Han, Young-Joo, Cha, Ji-Young
• Granted Patent: US 9,270,753 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/217
• 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]

Abstract

A cloud service system includes at least one user device, a plurality of clouds for providing different cloud services, and a gateway connected between the user device and the clouds. The gateway selects at least one of the clouds according to predefined Service Level Agreement (SLA) information, and stores content provided from the user device to the selected cloud.

Claims

1. A gateway connecting at least one user device to a plurality of cloud servers that provide different cloud services, the gateway comprising:

a memory unit including an information table configured to store predefined Service Level Agreement (SLA) information; and

a controller configured to select at least one of the cloud servers based on the SLA information and to store content provided from the user device on the selected cloud server.

2. The gateway of claim 1, wherein the SLA information comprises information relating to a service usage fee for each cloud server.

3. The gateway of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to select a cloud server from the cloud servers in ascending order of the service usage fee.

4. The gateway of claim 3, wherein the information table is configured to store information relating to the service usage fee and a storage capacity with respect to each of the cloud servers.

5. The gateway of claim 4, wherein when an available storage capacity of the selected cloud server is smaller than a size of the content, the controller is configured to select another cloud server.

6. The gateway of claim 4, wherein the information table is generated and updated with a value which is either entered by a user through the user device or provided from the cloud server.

7. A gateway connecting at least one user device to a plurality of cloud servers that provide different cloud services, the gateway comprising:

a calculator configured to calculate a response time for each of the cloud servers; and

a selector configured to select a cloud server in ascending order of the response time from the cloud servers storing the requested content, to request the content stored to the selected cloud server, and to provide the content to the user device.

8. The gateway of claim 7, further comprising:

a response time table configured to store response time for the cloud servers, and

a hash table configured to store information on the cloud servers storing content on the content basis,

wherein when the user device sends a request for a content, the selector is configured to select a cloud server from the cloud servers storing the requested content in ascending order of the response time, to request a copy of the content stored to the selected cloud server, and to provide the copy of the content to the user device.

9. The gateway of claim 8, wherein the calculator is configured to calculate the response times between sending a request for test content stored on the cloud servers and receiving the test content, and to store the response times for the cloud servers on the response time table.

10. The gateway of claim 7, further comprising:

a verifier configured to verify cloud servers storing the content when the user device requests to view content.

11. The gateway of claim 10, wherein the verifier comprises:

a hash table configured to store information of a response time between sending the a request for content and receiving a response to the request;

a hash tree generator configured to generate a first hash tree using the content information; and

a hash tree verifier configured to request and receive content information to and from a corresponding cloud server upon receiving a request for content, generate a second hash tree using the received content information and content information of the hash tree verifier, and verify the cloud server by comparing the hash trees.

12. A method for operating a gateway connecting at least one user device to a plurality of cloud servers that provide different cloud services, the method comprising:

selecting at least one of the cloud servers based on predefined Service Level Agreement (SLA) information; and

storing content provided from the user device, on the selected cloud server.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the SLA information comprises information relating to a service usage fee.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the selecting at least one of the cloud servers comprises selecting the cloud server from the cloud servers in ascending order of the service usage fee.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the selecting at least one of the cloud servers further comprises:

selecting next cloud in the ascending order if an available storage of the selected cloud server is smaller than a size of the content,

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the SLA information is generated and updated with a value which is entered by a user through the user device or provided from the cloud servers.

17. A method for operating a gateway connecting at least one user device to a plurality of cloud servers that provide different cloud services, the method comprising:

calculating a response time for each of the cloud servers; and

when the user device requests content, selecting a cloud server from the cloud servers storing the requested content in ascending order of the response time, requesting the content stored to the selected cloud server, and providing the content to the user device.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein calculating a response time for each of the cloud servers comprises:

requesting a test content stored on the cloud servers at preset intervals; and

measuring the response time until the test content is received.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

when the user device requests to view content, verifying cloud servers storing the content.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein selecting cloud servers from the verified cloud servers comprises:

generating a first hash tree using content information;

requesting and receiving content information to and from a corresponding cloud server when the user device requests content;

generating a second hash tree using the received content information and content information held therein, and verifying cloud servers by comparing the hash trees; and

selecting the verified cloud server from the cloud servers storing the requested content in ascending order of the response time.