Methods and apparatus for storage and retrieval of name space information in a distributed computing system
First Claim
1. A method performed by a first processor in a distributed computing system for invoking execution of a processing task on a remote processor, said processing task operating on a first name space associated with said first processor, said first name space being formed by a plurality of name space modification commands, said method comprising the steps of:
- establishing a communication link between said first processor and said remote processor;
identifying the plurality of name space modification commands that form said first name space, said plurality of identified name space modification commands including at least one dynamic name space modification command; and
transmitting said plurality of name space modification commands to said remote processor for execution of said processing task by said remote processor on a name space modified in accordance with said transmitted plurality of name space modification commands.
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Abstract
A distributed computing environment is disclosed which allows a user at one location to access resources at other locations. Each resource in the distributed computing environment is represented as a hierarchical file system. A user or process has a name space comprised of at least one hierarchical file system provided by a connected resource. The distributed computing environment allows a first processor to invoke execution of a processing task by a remote processor. The first processor transmits a representation of its current name space to the remote processor. The remote processor will execute the processing task on a name space modified in accordance with the name space representation received from the first processor. The transmitted representation of the name space associated with the first processor includes at least one dynamic name space modification command, such as those executed by a user after logging into the distributed computing system. A plurality of data structures are provided for storing path information which allows the pathname of a given channel, which represents a file, to be determined. The stored path information allows the hierarchical file tree of a connected file system to be generated.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method performed by a first processor in a distributed computing system for invoking execution of a processing task on a remote processor, said processing task operating on a first name space associated with said first processor, said first name space being formed by a plurality of name space modification commands, said method comprising the steps of:
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establishing a communication link between said first processor and said remote processor; identifying the plurality of name space modification commands that form said first name space, said plurality of identified name space modification commands including at least one dynamic name space modification command; and transmitting said plurality of name space modification commands to said remote processor for execution of said processing task by said remote processor on a name space modified in accordance with said transmitted plurality of name space modification commands. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method performed by a remote processor in a distributed computing system for executing a processing task received from a first processor, said processing task operating on a first name space associated with said first processor, said first name space being formed by a plurality of name space modification commands, said remote processor having a second name space, said method comprising the steps of:
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processing a connection request from said first processor; allocating a process on said remote processor to execute said invoked processing task; receiving from said first processor the plurality of name space modification commands that form said first name space, said plurality of received name space modification commands including at least one dynamic name space modification command; establishing a communication link to said first processor; mounting said communication link to said first processor in a predefined place in said second name space; executing said plurality of received name space modification commands to modify said second name space; and executing said invoked processing task on said modified second name space. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An apparatus for storing name space information in a node of a distributed computing system comprised of a plurality of resources, each of said resources being represented as a hierarchical file system, said name space comprised of at least one of said resource hierarchical file systems joined to said name space by one or more name space modification commands, said name space being modifiable on a per process basis, said apparatus comprising:
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a mount table for storing an indication of each of said resource hierarchical file systems joined to an indicated portion of said name space by said name space modification commands; and a server tree path table associated with each of said hierarchical file systems joined to said name space, said server tree path table providing path information for each of said files in said associated hierarchical file system, said path information allowing said file system hierarchy to be recreated, said path information for each of said files including the name of said associated file and an indication of the parent file in said hierarchy of said associated file. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for identifying a pathname associated with a given channel in a distributed computing system, said distributed computing system including a plurality of distributed resources, each of said resources being represented as a hierarchical file system comprised of one or more files, a collection of one or more hierarchical file systems forming a name space, each of said hierarchical file systems having a root directory, each of said channels representing a given file in said name space, each of said files having a filename comprised of an alphanumeric label, said pathname identifying said file by specifying a path through said hierarchical file system from said root directory to said file, said method comprising:
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associating a path data structure with each of said channels, said path data structure storing the filename of an associated file and a pointer to said path data structure associated with a parent file in said name space hierarchy; receiving an indication of the channel for which the pathname is to be identified; identifying the path data structure associated with said indicated channel; retrieving said filename and said pointer to said path data structure associated with the parent file from said identified path data structure; and following said retrieved pointer to said path data structure associated with the parent file and repeating said previous step until said root directory of said hierarchical file system is reached, each of said filenames retrieved from said path data structures appended to the front of said generated pathname associated data structures being appended to the front of said generated pathname associated with said indicated channel.
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Specification