Method and apparatus for network file recovery
First Claim
1. A method for assisting the recovery of files in a computer network after a network fault occurs, the network including a file server and a client connected to the file server, the client including a client cache data block and a corresponding client block state indicator, the file server including a server cache data block and a non-volatile store, the non-volatile store including a controller and a non-volatile medium, said method comprising the following steps in the order indicated:
- client-caching a specified piece of file data by writing the file data to the client cache data block;
indicating that client-caching is complete by updating the client block state indicator;
server-caching the file data by writing the file data to the server cache data block;
indicating that server-caching is complete by updating the client block state indicator;
requesting storage of the file data by writing the file data to the controller in the file server;
receiving an acknowledgement from the controller that the file data has been stored on the non-volatile medium; and
indicating that storing is complete by updating the client block state indicator.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for assisting in file recovery after a network fault uses a block state indicator in a client cache. After file data is stored in the client cache, the block state indicator is set to a client-cached state. After the file data is stored in a server cache, the block state indicator is set to a server-cached state. After the file data is stored in a non-volatile store attached to the server, the block state indicator is set to a stored state. If the data in server cache is lost or compromised due to a network fault, the data maintained in client memory is retransmitted. In a similar manner, file locks and file semaphores are re-established after a network fault.
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Citations
54 Claims
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1. A method for assisting the recovery of files in a computer network after a network fault occurs, the network including a file server and a client connected to the file server, the client including a client cache data block and a corresponding client block state indicator, the file server including a server cache data block and a non-volatile store, the non-volatile store including a controller and a non-volatile medium, said method comprising the following steps in the order indicated:
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client-caching a specified piece of file data by writing the file data to the client cache data block; indicating that client-caching is complete by updating the client block state indicator; server-caching the file data by writing the file data to the server cache data block; indicating that server-caching is complete by updating the client block state indicator; requesting storage of the file data by writing the file data to the controller in the file server; receiving an acknowledgement from the controller that the file data has been stored on the non-volatile medium; and indicating that storing is complete by updating the client block state indicator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An apparatus for assisting the recovery of files in a computer network after a network fault occurs, said apparatus comprising:
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a file server having a non-volatile store; a client connected to the file server by at least a portion of the network; a client cache in the client, the client cache including a client cache data block for holding a piece of file data and a corresponding block state indicator; a server cache in the server, the server cache including a server cache data block for holding the file data and a corresponding dirty flag; client-cached updating means for updating the block state indicator to indicate that client-caching is complete after the file data is written to the client cache data block; server-cached updating means for updating the block state indicator to indicate that server-caching is complete after the file data is written to the server cache data block; and server-stored updating means for updating the block state indicator to indicate that server-storing is complete after the file data is written to the server store. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A computer-readable storage medium having a configuration that represents data and instructions which cause a client and a file server to perform method steps for assisting the recovery of files after a network fault occurs, the client connected to the server in a computer network, the client including a client cache data block and a corresponding client block state indicator, the file server including a server cache data block and a non-volatile store, the non-volatile store including a controller and a non-volatile medium, the method comprising the following steps in the order indicated:
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client-caching a specified piece of file data by writing the file data to the client cache data block; indicating that client-caching is complete by updating the client block state indicator; server-caching the file data by writing the file data to the server cache data block; indicating that server-caching is complete by updating the client block state indicator; requesting storage of the file data by writing the file data to the controller in the file server; receiving an acknowledgement from the controller that the file data has been stored on the non-volatile medium; and indicating that storing is complete by updating the client block state indicator. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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Specification