ENTERPRISE PEER-TO-PEER STORAGE AND METHOD OF MANAGING PEER NETWORK STORAGE

• US 20160226973A1
• Filed: 02/02/2015
• Published: 08/04/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Appel, Ana P., Candello, Heloisa C. de S. P., Cunha, Renato L. de F., Bianchi, Silvia C. S.
• Granted Patent: US 9,800,659 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1046 Joining mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1078 Resource delivery mechanisms
• 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 peer-to-peer storage system, method and program product for managing peer-to-peer storage in an enterprise network. Peers use networked devices to log into an enterprise social platform with a unique identification (ID) that identifies a respective enterprise network user. Users may be members of enterprise network groups. When a group member peer requests a copy of a file the file associated with the group, the networked device determines whether other members have stored replicas of the file. If replicas are stored with other members, the networked device receives one of those. Otherwise, the networked device receives a copy from the enterprise social platform, and that copy is stored with one of the group members.

Claims

1. An enterprise network peer-to-peer storage system comprising:

an enterprise social platform supporting at least one enterprise community with one or more identified enterprise groups, each group including a plurality of enterprise users collaborating in said each group and registered with said enterprise social platform;

a plurality of peer devices, each peer device having local storage and being associated with a registered enterprise user;

enterprise social platform storage storing files related to each of said one or more identified enterprise group, in at least one said enterprise group a plurality of replicas of active files are stored in group peer device storage; and

a network, said plurality of peer devices connected to each other over said network, wherein whenever a peer device requests access to an active file, one of the group peer devices provides access to a stored one of said plurality of replicas.

2. An enterprise network peer-to-peer storage system as in claim 1, wherein said group peer devices storing replicas further comprise:

a social network connector managing peer connection activity;

a local storage manager managing local replica storage; and

a remote interface unit managing replica sharing.

3. An enterprise network peer-to-peer storage system as in claim 2, wherein said social network connector manages new uploads, authenticates file accesses, and intercepts and couples authenticated file accesses.

4. An enterprise network peer-to-peer storage system as in claim 3, wherein said social network connector further detects associated file contexts/tags and lists storage system users recommended for storing the new/updated file replicas.

5. An enterprise network peer-to-peer storage system as in claim 2, wherein said enterprise social platform is on a cloud server, said plurality of peer devices are cloud clients, said enterprise social platform storage is cloud storage and, said local storage manager further maintains the status of all stored replicas and selectively deletes stale replicas.

6. An enterprise network peer-to-peer storage system as in claim 2, wherein said remote interface unit retrieves shared replicas and transfers replicas responsive to user upload and download file requests.

7. An enterprise network peer-to-peer storage system as in claim 6, wherein said remote interface unit maintains the state of all shared replicas.

8. A method of managing enterprise network peer-to-peer shared storage, said method comprising:

logging into an enterprise social platform with a unique identification (ID), said ID identifying a respective user within said enterprise social platform;

requesting a copy of a file associated with an enterprise network group, a plurality of identified users being members of said enterprise network group;

determining whether replicas of the requested said copy is stored with other group members;

retrieving said copy, a replica being retrieved if replicas have been stored with other members, otherwise retrieving said copy from said enterprise social platform; and

selectively storing said copy with at least one other of said members.

9. A method as in claim 8, wherein determining whether to store replicas comprises:

determining a number of replicas to store;

identifying said other members as candidates for storing said replicas;

selecting a set of members from said candidates, wherein said set is selected to maximize replica availability; and

displaying a list listing said set.

10. A method as in claim 9, wherein determining said number of replicas comprises:

extracting a list of tags (T);

inferring a context for said requested file; and

retrieving a social circle (C) responsive to said context and information (n) from related statistics (S), wherein said number of replicas (v) is determined by v=Σ

_i=1^i=Nf_i(n_i).

11. A method as in claim 10, wherein said enterprise social platform is a cloud platform, peers in said enterprise network are cloud clients, and said related statistics (S) comprise:

the number of group members;

a number of messages exchanged between group members;

a number of user activities posted in community documents;

a number of user activities posted in profile related documents and information;

a number of uploaded files;

a number of accesses to files having the same tag;

a number of accesses to past file versions; and

a tag/context relevance.

12. A method as in claim 8, further comprising managing locally stored replicas, managing comprising:

determining the age of each stored replica;

determining whether any stored replicas is older than a selected age; and

for any replicas older than said selected age,

determining whether an access count for stored replicas is less than a selected count; and

for any replicas with said access count is lower than said selected count,

determining whether the number of stored replicas is fewer than the number determined for storing; and

storing said copy as a replica with an identified one of said other members whenever said number is fewer.

13. A method as in claim 12, wherein whenever said access count is at or above said selected count, said method further comprises waiting until said stored replicas are older than a popular file age before proceeding to determine whether the number of stored replicas is fewer than the number determined for storing.

14. A method as in claim 12, wherein storing said copy comprises:

identifying said other members as replica storage candidates;

sending a request to store said copy to said replica storage candidates; and

storing said copy with one of said replica storage candidates.

15. A method as in claim 12, wherein whenever said number of stored replicas is at or above the number for storing, said method comprises deleting one or more stored replicas.

16. A computer program product for managing enterprise network peer-to-peer storage, said computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code stored thereon, said computer readable program code causing a plurality of computers executing said code to:

log into an enterprise social platform with a unique identification (ID), said ID identifying a respective user within said enterprise social platform;

request a copy of a file associated with an enterprise network group, a plurality of identified users being members of said enterprise network group;

determine whether replicas of the requested said copy is stored with other group members;

retrieve said copy, a replica being retrieved if replicas have been stored with other members, otherwise retrieving said copy from said enterprise social platform; and

selectively store said copy with at least one other of said members.

17. A computer program product for managing enterprise network peer-to-peer storage as in claim 16, wherein said computer readable program code causing said one or more computers to determine whether to store replicas causes said one or more computers to:

extract a list of tags (T);

infer a context for said requested file; and

retrieve a social circle (C) responsive to said context and information (n) from related statistics (S), the number of replicas (v) is determined by v=Σ

_i=1^i=Nf_i(n_i), wherein said related statistics (S) are selected from;

the number of group members, a number of messages exchanged between group members, a number of user activities posted in community documents, a number of user activities posted in profile related documents and information, a number of uploaded files, a number of accesses to files having the same tag, a number of accesses to past file versions, and a tag/context relevance;

identify said other members as candidates for storing said replicas;

select a set of members from said candidates, wherein said set is selected to maximize replica availability; and

display a list listing said set.

18. A computer program product for managing enterprise network peer-to-peer storage as in claim 16, said computer readable program code further causing said plurality of computers executing said code to:

determine the age of each stored replica;

determine whether any stored replicas is older than a selected age; and

for any replicas older than said selected age,

determine whether an access count for stored replicas is less than a selected count; and

for any replicas with said access count is lower than said selected count,

determine whether the number of stored replicas is fewer than the number determined for storing; and

whenever said number of stored replicas is at or above the number for storing,

delete one or more stored replicas; and

store said copy as a replica with an identified one of said other members whenever said number is fewer.

19. A computer program product for managing enterprise network peer-to-peer storage as in claim 18, wherein whenever said access count is at or above said selected count, said computer readable program code further causing said plurality of computers executing said code to wait until said stored replicas are older than a popular file age before determining whether the number of stored replicas is fewer than the number determined for storing.

20. A computer program product for managing enterprise network peer-to-peer storage as in claim 18, wherein said computer readable program code causing said one or more computers to store said copy causes said one or more computers to:

identify said other members as replica storage candidates;

send a request to store said copy to said replica storage candidates; and

store said copy with one of said replica storage candidates.