Apparatus for data depoting and method therefor
First Claim
1. A data processing system for distributing bulk data on a network comprising:
- at least one source subsystem providing bulk data to be distributed; and
one or more repeater subsystems for receiving said bulk data and storing said bulk data for transmission to one or more endpoint systems, wherein each of said at least one source subsystem includes circuitry operable for generating control information for controlling the storage of said bulk data on said one or more repeater subsystems and circuitry for including said control information in a transmission of said bulk data to said one or more repeater subsystems, and wherein each of said one or more repeater subsystems include circuitry operable for controlling said storing of said bulk data in response to said control information.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method by which repeaters are able to temporarily or permanently store data in a local repository called a depot. Two uses for the depots are checkpoint restart functionality and the ability to store commonly installed software distributions on nodes closer to their destinations. Large software programs such as Office 95™ can be stored on local repeaters for fast and efficient distribution. A particular distribution can be stored in more than one depot. Depots will provide an interface to allow administrators to list the contents of a depot, store new distributions and delete old distributions. Data may be added to a depot by either an explicit administrator command or by retaining data sent as part of a distribution. Applications can decide what data is appropriate for depoting, and mark those distribution segments as “storable”.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A data processing system for distributing bulk data on a network comprising:
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at least one source subsystem providing bulk data to be distributed; and
one or more repeater subsystems for receiving said bulk data and storing said bulk data for transmission to one or more endpoint systems, wherein each of said at least one source subsystem includes circuitry operable for generating control information for controlling the storage of said bulk data on said one or more repeater subsystems and circuitry for including said control information in a transmission of said bulk data to said one or more repeater subsystems, and wherein each of said one or more repeater subsystems include circuitry operable for controlling said storing of said bulk data in response to said control information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method of distributing data on a network comprising the steps of:
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generating control information for controlling storage of distributed data;
receiving said data at a network node distributed; and
storing said distributed data in said network node wherein said storing is permanent if said control information has a first predetermined value and temporarily if said control information has a second predetermined value. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
receiving a delete request in response to an administrator command; and
deleting said distributed data from storage in response to said delete request.
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13. The method of claim 8 wherein said step of deleting said distributed data after all endpoint systems have received said distributed data includes the steps of:
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initializing a reference counter to a preselected number of endpoints subsystems requesting said distributed data;
decrementing said reference counter in response to a successful transmission of said distributed data to an endpoint subsystem;
testing said reference counter, and if said reference counter is not zero, repeating said decrementing step; and
if said reference counter is zero, deleting said distributed data from said network node.
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14. A computer program product embodied in a machine-readable storage medium including programming for distributing data on a network, the programming comprising:
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programming for generating control information for controlling storage of distributed data;
programming for receiving said distributed data a network node; and
programming for storing said distributed data in said network node, wherein said storing is permanent if said control information has a first predetermined value and temporary if said control information has a second predetermined value. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
programming for initializing a reference counter to a preselected number of endpoint subsystems requesting said distributed data;
programming for decrementing said reference counter in response to a successful transmission of said distributed data to an endpoint subsystem;
programming for testing said reference counter, and if said reference counter is not zero, repeating said decrementing steps; and
if said reference counter is zero, deleting said distributed data from said network node.
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Specification