CLOUD BASED FILE SYSTEM SURPASSING DEVICE STORAGE LIMITS
First Claim
1. A method for managing a device file system integrated with a storage server, comprising:
- storing, at a computing device, metadata of a plurality of storage objects in a file system of the computing device, wherein a storage server stores content data of the plurality of storage objects;
presenting one or more of the plurality of storage objects to a user of the computing device as if the content data of the storage objects are stored locally in the computing device;
determining, at the computing device, at least one storage object of the plurality of storage objects that has a high possibility to be read by computer applications of the computing device;
caching, at the computing device, the content data of at least a portion of the at least one storage object;
receiving a read request for an storage object from one of the computer applications;
determining whether the content data of the storage object is cached at the computing device;
if the content data of the storage object is cached at the computing device, reading the content data of the storage object from its cached location at the computing device; and
if the content data of the storage object is not cached at the computing device, requesting the content data of the storage object from the storage server.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Technology is disclosed herein for a cloud based file system that can surpass physical storage limit. According to at least one embodiment, a computing device includes a file system having multiple storage objects. The metadata of the storage objects are stored in local storage of the computing device. A remote storage server is responsible for storing the content data of the storage objects. The computing device presents the storage objects via an output device as if the content data are stored locally in the computing device. The computing device identifies some of the storage objects that have a high possibility to be read by computer applications of the computing device, and caches the content data of these storage objects locally.
71 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method for managing a device file system integrated with a storage server, comprising:
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storing, at a computing device, metadata of a plurality of storage objects in a file system of the computing device, wherein a storage server stores content data of the plurality of storage objects; presenting one or more of the plurality of storage objects to a user of the computing device as if the content data of the storage objects are stored locally in the computing device; determining, at the computing device, at least one storage object of the plurality of storage objects that has a high possibility to be read by computer applications of the computing device; caching, at the computing device, the content data of at least a portion of the at least one storage object; receiving a read request for an storage object from one of the computer applications; determining whether the content data of the storage object is cached at the computing device; if the content data of the storage object is cached at the computing device, reading the content data of the storage object from its cached location at the computing device; and if the content data of the storage object is not cached at the computing device, requesting the content data of the storage object from the storage server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method, comprising:
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receiving a write request for an storage object from one of the computer applications; determining whether the content data of the storage object is cached at the computing device; if the content data of the storage object is cached at the computing device, updating the storage object based on the write request; and if the content data of the storage object is not cached at the computing device, recording a sequential list of changes to the storage object based on the write request into a log data structure. - View Dependent Claims (6)
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7. A computing device having a file system that can surpass physical storage limit, comprising:
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a processor configured to identify one of multiple files of the computing device that has a high probability to be read by the computing device; a file system manager, when executed by the processor, controls the files and handles file system operations to the files; a storage component configured to store metadata of the files without permanently storing content data of the files, wherein a storage server stores the content data of the files; a networking component configured to retrieve the content data of the file from the storage server after the processor identifies the file; wherein the file system manager is capable of controlling files having a total size exceeding a physical storage limit of the storage component; and an output component configured to visualize a preview of at least one file of the files using the metadata of the file as if the content data of the file are stored locally in the storage component. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A computing device having a file system that can surpass physical storage limit, comprising:
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a processor configured to identify one of multiple files of the computing device that has a high probability to be read by the computing device; a file system manager, when executed by the processor, controls the files and handles file system operations to the files; a storage component configured to store metadata of the files without permanently storing content data of the files, wherein a storage server stores the content data of the files; a networking component configured to retrieve the content data of the file from the storage server after the processor identifies the file; wherein the file system manager is capable of controlling files having a total size exceeding a physical storage limit of the storage component; wherein the file system manager handles a write operation to a file by a process including; determining whether the storage component caches the content data of the file; if the storage component does not cache the content data of the file, forwarding the write operation to storage server; and if the storage component caches the content data of the file, applying the write operation to the cached content data of the file, and synchronizing the content data of the file in the storage component with the content data of the file in the storage server.
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13. A method, comprising:
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receiving, at a file system manager of a computing device, an instruction from a first application running at the computing device to create a file stored at the computing device; creating, by the file system manager, the file by storing metadata of the file in a local storage device of the computing device and transmitting content data of the file to a storage server, wherein the metadata include a link to a location where the storage server stores the content data of the file; receiving, at the file system manager, an instruction to read the file from a second application running at the computing device; retrieving, by the file system manager, the content data of the file from the storage server based on the metadata including the link to the location; and providing, by the file system manager, the content data to the application as if the local storage device stores the content data of the file. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification