Method and apparatus for data access and update in a shared file environment
First Claim
1. A method for providing simultaneous access by at least first and second users to a common file on a computer network which has at least one physical storage device, said method comprising the steps of:
- defining in said at least one physical storage device a common partition for storing common data which is accessible to said first and second users;
defining in said at least one physical storage device a first partition for storing first update data representing changes to the common data in first user selected data fields in said common partition without storing unchanged common data, said first update data in said first partition is at least partially inaccessible to said second user;
providing said first update data to the first partition; and
selectively merging said first update data into said common partition at a desired time so as to replace the common data in said first user selected data fields with said first update data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A distributed storage system provides a method and apparatus for storing, retrieving, and sharing data items across multiple physical storage devices that may not always be connected with one another. The distributed storage system of the present invention comprises one or more `partitions` on distinct storage devices, with each partition comprising of a group of associated data files. Partitions can be of various types. Journal partitions may be written to by a user and contain the user'"'"'s updates to shared files. In the preferred embodiment, journal partitions reside on a storage device associated with a client computer in a client-server architecture. Other types of partitions, library and archive partitions, may reside on storage devices associated with a server computer in a client-server architecture. The files on the journal partitions of the various clients may, at various times, be merged into a file resident within the library partition. If two or more clients attempt to update or alter data related to the same file, the system resolves the conflict between the clients to determine which updates, if any, should be stored in the library partition. The merge operation may occur at various time intervals or be event driven. The archive partition stores files from the library partition.
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Citations
46 Claims
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1. A method for providing simultaneous access by at least first and second users to a common file on a computer network which has at least one physical storage device, said method comprising the steps of:
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defining in said at least one physical storage device a common partition for storing common data which is accessible to said first and second users; defining in said at least one physical storage device a first partition for storing first update data representing changes to the common data in first user selected data fields in said common partition without storing unchanged common data, said first update data in said first partition is at least partially inaccessible to said second user; providing said first update data to the first partition; and selectively merging said first update data into said common partition at a desired time so as to replace the common data in said first user selected data fields with said first update data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A storage system for a computer network simultaneously accessible by at least first and second users, comprising:
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at least one physical storage device, a common partition defined in said at least one physical storage device storing common data which is accessible to said first and second users; a first partition defined in said at least one physical storage device storing first update data provided by said first user representing changes to the common data in first user selected data fields in said common partition without storing unchanged common data, said first update data in said first partition is at least partially inaccessible to said second user; and means for selectively merging said first update data into said common partition at a desired time so as to replace the common data in said first user selected data fields with said first update data. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A method for providing simultaneous access by at least first and second users to a common file on a computer network which has at least one physical storage device, said method comprising the steps of:
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defining in said at least one physical storage device a common partition for storing data fields of said common file which are accessible to said first and second users; defining in said at least one physical storage device a first partition for storing first update data representing changes to first user selected data fields of said common file in said common partition without storing the actual first user selected data fields of said common file, said first update data in said first partition is at least partially inaccessible to said second user; providing said first update data to the first partition; and selectively merging said first update data into said common partition at a desired time so as to replace the first user selected data fields of said common file with said first update data. - View Dependent Claims (44)
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45. A method for providing simultaneous access by at least first and second users to a common file on a computer network which has at least one physical storage device, said method comprising the steps of:
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defining in said at least one physical storage device a common partition for storing data fields of said common file which are accessible to said first and second users; defining in said at least one physical storage device a first partition for storing first update data representing changes to first user selected data fields of said common file in said common partition without storing the unchanged data fields of said common file, said first update data in said first partition is at least partially inaccessible to said second user; providing said first update data to the first partition; and selectively merging said first update data into said common partition at a desired time so as to replace the first user selected data fields of said common file with said first update data. - View Dependent Claims (46)
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Specification