History preservation in a computer storage system
First Claim
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1. A method by which a disk-based distributed data storage system is organized for protecting historical records of stored data entities, the method comprising:
- recording distinct states of entities, corresponding to different moments of time, as separate entity versions coexisting within the disk-based distributed data storage system;
storing an entity version in the disk-based distributed data storage system, with a copy of the entity version located at each of a plurality of storage sites; and
assigning expiration times to the entity version, with separate expiration times assigned at each of the plurality of storage sites according to a shared set of rules, before which times both modification and deletion of the entity version are prohibited, and after which times it is deleted from the disk-based distributed data storage system;
wherein a storage client communicating with the disk-based distributed data storage system deposits the entity version into the storage system and later retrieves it;
wherein an action taken by the storage client communicating with the disk-based distributed data storage system causes an expiration time, which is one of the separate expiration times, to be assigned to the entity version;
wherein no subsequent action that the storage client communicating with the disk-based distributed data storage system can take will cause the expiration time to be changed to an earlier time;
wherein a request communicated by the storage client to the disk-based distributed data storage system, which would cause or allow the entity version to be deleted from the disk-based distributed data storage system before the expiration time, is denied; and
wherein no alteration or corruption of expiration times assigned at any single storage site that is a part of the disk-based distributed data storage system will allow the entity version to be deleted from all of the plurality of storage sites before the assigned expiration times.
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Abstract
A method by which a disk-based distributed data storage system is organized for protecting historical records of stored data entities. The method comprises recording distinct states of an entity, corresponding to different moments of time, as separate entity versions coexisting within the distributed data storage system, and assigning expiration times to the entity versions independently within each of a plurality of storage sites according to a shared set of rules, before which times deletion is prohibited.
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Citations
74 Claims
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1. A method by which a disk-based distributed data storage system is organized for protecting historical records of stored data entities, the method comprising:
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recording distinct states of entities, corresponding to different moments of time, as separate entity versions coexisting within the disk-based distributed data storage system; storing an entity version in the disk-based distributed data storage system, with a copy of the entity version located at each of a plurality of storage sites; and assigning expiration times to the entity version, with separate expiration times assigned at each of the plurality of storage sites according to a shared set of rules, before which times both modification and deletion of the entity version are prohibited, and after which times it is deleted from the disk-based distributed data storage system; wherein a storage client communicating with the disk-based distributed data storage system deposits the entity version into the storage system and later retrieves it; wherein an action taken by the storage client communicating with the disk-based distributed data storage system causes an expiration time, which is one of the separate expiration times, to be assigned to the entity version; wherein no subsequent action that the storage client communicating with the disk-based distributed data storage system can take will cause the expiration time to be changed to an earlier time; wherein a request communicated by the storage client to the disk-based distributed data storage system, which would cause or allow the entity version to be deleted from the disk-based distributed data storage system before the expiration time, is denied; and wherein no alteration or corruption of expiration times assigned at any single storage site that is a part of the disk-based distributed data storage system will allow the entity version to be deleted from all of the plurality of storage sites before the assigned expiration times. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74)
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Specification