Server chaining system for usenet
First Claim
1. A system for storing Usenet articles, comprising:
- a first server connected to a first digital storage device containing a first range of Usenet articles;
a second server connected to a second digital storage device containing a second range of Usenet articles that does not include Usenet articles that are contained in said first range of Usenet articles, wherein said second server maintains synchronization of identifiers of said first range of Usenet articles and said second range of Usenet articles;
wherein said second server is chained to said first server, and further wherein said first server advertises the availability of the union of said first range and said second range.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A chaining system for Usenet applications allows local Usenet servers having a relatively small storage capacity to provide access to a large number of articles through network connections with large-capacity storage devices. The local servers can thereby advertise the availability of the union of its own stored content and the content stored on the large-capacity storage device. Chaining can be accomplished with and without-caching. In addition, the chaining system of the present invention allows storage devices to be staged throughout a network so that the most requested Usenet articles are available on fast, local servers, thereby freeing larger storage devices to hold greater numbers of less-popular articles. The larger devices may be shared among several local servers. The overall system performance is enhanced because the load on storage devices can be advantageously balanced, with the fastest (and typically smallest) storage devices absorbing the greatest load, while the slower (and typically larger) storage devices have reduced load and offer a larger selection of less-popular news articles. The net result for the user is a system with a large selection of articles in which most of the requests will be served quickly from local storage devices.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A system for storing Usenet articles, comprising:
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a first server connected to a first digital storage device containing a first range of Usenet articles;
a second server connected to a second digital storage device containing a second range of Usenet articles that does not include Usenet articles that are contained in said first range of Usenet articles, wherein said second server maintains synchronization of identifiers of said first range of Usenet articles and said second range of Usenet articles;
wherein said second server is chained to said first server, and further wherein said first server advertises the availability of the union of said first range and said second range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A system for split chaining Usenet servers, comprising:
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a first server connected to a first digital storage device containing a first range of Usenet articles;
a second server connected to a second digital storage device containing a second range of Usenet articles that does not include Usenet articles that are contained in said first range of Usenet articles, wherein said second server maintains synchronization of identifiers of said first range of Usenet articles and said second range of Usenet articles; and
a third server connected to a third digital storage device containing a third range of Usenet articles that does not contain Usenet articles that are contained in said first range of Usenet articles and said second range of Usenet articles, wherein said first server is chained to said second server, and said first server is also chained to said third server, and further wherein said first server advertises the availability of the union of said first range, second range, and third range. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for storing Usenet articles, comprising:
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connecting a first server to a first digital storage device containing a first range of Usenet articles;
connecting a second server to a second digital storage device containing a second range of Usenet articles that does not include Usenet articles that are contained in said first range of Usenet articles;
chaining said second server to said first server, wherein said chaining includes synchronizing identifiers associated with said first range of Usenet articles and said second range of Usenet articles at said second server;
, andadvertising, on said first server, the availability of the union of said first range and said second range. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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Specification