Client server based multi-processor file system wherein client files written to by a client processor are invisible to the server
First Claim
1. A file system comprising:
- a plurality of nodes, each node having a client processor and a client disk for holding client files;
one of said nodes being a control node acting as a file server, the client disk of said control node being a server disk having server files corresponding to the client files;
communications fabric connected to said plurality of nodes for passing server files to said client disks; and
read/write means at each node for gaining access to specific files such that the client processor at each node may read from and write to files on the client disk at that node, said read/write means having;
determining means for determining if a specific file is on that client disk,file import means for, in the event said determining means determines said specific file is not on the client disk, importing the corresponding server copy of the specific file over the communications fabric from the server disk to the client disk,write testing means for testing if said specific file determined to be on the client disk as determined by said determining means has been written to by said client processor, and preventing said file import means from importing said specific file in the event said specific file has been written to, andflagging means for flagging the client copy of the specific file with a write flag in the event that the client copy of the specific file is written to by the client processor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A distributed file system for a multi-processor system having multiple nodes, each node having a client processor and a client disk. The nodes are connected to a communications fabric for passing files between the nodes. One of the nodes acts as a server for passing files from the server to any of the other nodes. When a client processor reads a file on its client disk, the client processor obtains the server copy of the file and installs it on the client disk if the server copy of the file is more current, before the read operation. Provision is also made for atomically providing upgrades of application files to the client disks. When the client processor writes to a file, it sets a write flag in the file so that the file thus written to by the client processor is invisible to file operations from the server and the other nodes. The disclosed file system is particularly useful for systems administration of a multi-processor system having a single point of systems software install.
62 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A file system comprising:
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a plurality of nodes, each node having a client processor and a client disk for holding client files; one of said nodes being a control node acting as a file server, the client disk of said control node being a server disk having server files corresponding to the client files; communications fabric connected to said plurality of nodes for passing server files to said client disks; and read/write means at each node for gaining access to specific files such that the client processor at each node may read from and write to files on the client disk at that node, said read/write means having; determining means for determining if a specific file is on that client disk, file import means for, in the event said determining means determines said specific file is not on the client disk, importing the corresponding server copy of the specific file over the communications fabric from the server disk to the client disk, write testing means for testing if said specific file determined to be on the client disk as determined by said determining means has been written to by said client processor, and preventing said file import means from importing said specific file in the event said specific file has been written to, and flagging means for flagging the client copy of the specific file with a write flag in the event that the client copy of the specific file is written to by the client processor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. In file system including a plurality of nodes, each node having a client processor and a client disk for holding client files, one of said nodes being a control node acting as a file server, the client disk of said control node being a server disk having server files corresponding to the client files, communications fabric connected to said plurality of nodes for passing server files to said client disks, and read/write means at each node for gaining access to specific files such that the client processor at each node may read from and write to files on the client disk at that node, a method comprising the steps of:
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determining if a specific file is on that client disk, in the event it is determined said specific file is not on the client disk, importing the corresponding server copy of the specific file over the communications fabric from the server disk to the client disk, testing if said specific file determined to be on the client disk has been written to by said client processor, preventing the importing of said specific file in the event said specific file has been written to, and flagging the client copy of the specific file with a write flag in the event that the client copy of the specific file is written to by the client processor. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A file system comprising:
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a plurality of nodes, each node having a client processor and a client disk for holding client files; one of said nodes being a control node acting as a file server, the client disk of said control node being a server disk having server files corresponding to the client files; communications fabric connected to said plurality of nodes for passing server files to said client disks; and means at each node for making files on the client disk that have been written to by the client processor at that node invisible to said file server and the other client nodes.
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25. A file system comprising:
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a plurality of nodes, each node having a client processor and a client disk for holding client files; one of said nodes being a control node acting as a file server, the client disk of said control node being a server disk having operating system files; communications fabric connected to said plurality of nodes for passing operating system files to said client disks; file importing means at each node for importing specific operating system files from said server disk to the client disk at that node only when that client disk needs a specific operating system file; and deleting means in said file importing means for deleting files from the client disk when there is not enough room to import a file from said server. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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Specification