Extended storage capacity for a network file server
First Claim
1. A method for extending the storage capacity of a file server in a decentralized storage network, comprising:
- storing data for an object on a shadow file server;
generating a range of consecutive data values commensurate with a first size of the object;
compressing the range of consecutive data values to generate a holey file;
storing the holey file as size metadata for the object on a directory file server; and
adding an entry to a directory server table to associate the data and the size metadata for reconstruction of the object.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A NAS switch provides extended storage capacity to a file server in a decentralized storage network such as a NAS (Network Attached Storage) storage network. The NAS switch sits in the data path of a client on the front end and a directory file server and shadow file servers on the back end. A segregation module in the NAS switch replicates data from the directory file server to a shadow file server, and then replaces the data in the directory file server with holey files. Holey files, which store a range of consecutive values such as zero with negligible storage space, retain the attributes of the data without retaining its storage consumption. Thus, the directory file server can server as a single directory hierarchy for several shadow file servers containing data beyond a capacity of the directory file server. When the NAS switch receives operations from the client, an association module forwards directory operations to the directory file server and data operations to the shadow file server. The NAS switch also provides services to several shadow file servers from a single directory file server.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. A method for extending the storage capacity of a file server in a decentralized storage network, comprising:
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storing data for an object on a shadow file server; generating a range of consecutive data values commensurate with a first size of the object; compressing the range of consecutive data values to generate a holey file; storing the holey file as size metadata for the object on a directory file server; and adding an entry to a directory server table to associate the data and the size metadata for reconstruction of the object. - 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 network attached storage (NAS) switch to extend the storage capacity of a file server in a NAS storage network, comprising:
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a segregation module to segregate an object by storing data for the object on a shadow file server, and storing size metadata for the object on a directory file server as size metadata in the form of a holey file generated from compressing a range of consecutive data values commensurate with a first size of the object, the segregation module associating the data and the size metadata in a directory server table; and an association module to retrieve the object from the data and the metadata in the directory server table. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A computer program product, comprising a computer-readable medium having computer program instructions for a method of extending the storage capacity of a file server in a decentralized storage network, the method comprising the steps of:
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storing data for an object on a shadow file server; generating a range of consecutive data values commensurate with a first size of the object; compressing the range of consecutive data values to generate a holey file; storing the holey file as size metadata for the object on a directory file server; and adding an entry to a directory server table to associate the data and the size metadata for reconstruction of the object.
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42. A network attached storage (NAS) switch to access an object in a storage network, comprising:
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a means for segregating data of an object, for storage on a shadow file server, from metadata of the object, for storage on a directory file server as size metadata in the form of a holey file generated from compressing a range of consecutive data values commensurate with a first size of the object; and a means for associating the data and the metadata in a directory server table.
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43. A method for extending the storage capacity of a file server in a decentralized storage network, comprising:
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receiving an object in a switch device; storing file data for the object on a shadow file server; generating size metadata for the object with a holey file, the holey file representative of a range of consecutive data values that is commensurate with a first size of the object; and storing the holey file in a file system on a directory file server, the directory file server configured to provide a directory of files with file sizes. - View Dependent Claims (44)
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Specification