System and method for policy-based data lifecycle management
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
- storing, by file system software implemented on at least one computing device, expiration policies for at least some files within a file system in file system metadata maintained by the file system software, wherein the file system software is configured to provide for creation of, management of, and access to the files within the file system, wherein each expiration policy is specific to a respective one of the at least some files and specifies one or more metrics for evaluation to determine whether the associated file is ready for expiration, wherein the file system metadata includes information that the file system software maintains on files stored in the file system, wherein a specific expiration policy associated with a file is stored in a portion of the information that the file system software maintains on the files stored in the file system that is specific to the file and that also includes location information for the file;
wherein said storing, for said at least some files, a respective expiration policy for the respective file in a portion of the information that is specific to the respective file and that also includes location information for the file, enables each of the at least some files for moving or copying to another location while maintaining its association with its respective expiration policy; and
evaluating, by the file system software, the expiration policies stored in the file system metadata, wherein said evaluating produces a result indicating at least one file that has passed an expiration date for the respective file according to the expiration policy corresponding to the respective file.
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Accused Products
Abstract
System and method for policy-based lifecycle management of data in file systems. In embodiments, an expiration policy for the files may be stored as part of the file system metadata. The expiration policy may be as simple as an expiration date for the file, or a more complex policy that specifies one or more metrics to be evaluated to determine if a file is expired. The expiration policy may also specify one or more actions to be taken if the file has expired. The expiration policy may be evaluated on attempts to access the files in the file system, on other file systems, and on backup/archive images to determine if the files are expired and thus whether access to the files is to be allowed. In one embodiment, a scan mechanism may periodically or aperiodically delete files in the file system for which the expiration date has passed.
145 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
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storing, by file system software implemented on at least one computing device, expiration policies for at least some files within a file system in file system metadata maintained by the file system software, wherein the file system software is configured to provide for creation of, management of, and access to the files within the file system, wherein each expiration policy is specific to a respective one of the at least some files and specifies one or more metrics for evaluation to determine whether the associated file is ready for expiration, wherein the file system metadata includes information that the file system software maintains on files stored in the file system, wherein a specific expiration policy associated with a file is stored in a portion of the information that the file system software maintains on the files stored in the file system that is specific to the file and that also includes location information for the file; wherein said storing, for said at least some files, a respective expiration policy for the respective file in a portion of the information that is specific to the respective file and that also includes location information for the file, enables each of the at least some files for moving or copying to another location while maintaining its association with its respective expiration policy; and evaluating, by the file system software, the expiration policies stored in the file system metadata, wherein said evaluating produces a result indicating at least one file that has passed an expiration date for the respective file according to the expiration policy corresponding to the respective file. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 23)
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17. A data storage system, comprising:
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one or more storage devices comprising a file system; a host system comprising a memory medium storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable on the host system to implement file system software configured to manage and control access to the file system; and one or more client systems each comprising a memory medium storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable on the client system to implement one or more applications configured to access files in the file system via the file system software; wherein the file system software is configured to;
store expiration policies for at least some files within the file system in file system metadata maintained by the file system software, wherein each expiration policy is specific to a respective one of the at least some files and specifies one or more metrics for evaluation to determine whether the associated file is ready for expiration, wherein the file system metadata includes information that the file system software maintains on files stored in the file system, wherein a specific expiration policy associated with a file is stored in a portion of the information that the file system software maintains on the files stored in the file system that is specific to the file and that also includes location information for the file;wherein said storing, for said at least some files, a respective expiration policy for the respective file in a portion of the information that is specific to the respective file and that also includes location information for the file, enables each of the at least some files for moving or copying to another location while maintaining its association with its respective expiration policy; evaluate the expiration policies stored in the file system metadata to determine files that have passed an expiration date; and grant or deny access to particular ones of the files in the file system by the applications according to results of said evaluation of the expiration policies, wherein access is denied for files that have passed the expiration date. - View Dependent Claims (18, 24, 25)
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19. A system, comprising:
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a processor; and a memory comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by the processor to implement file system software configured to manage and control access to a file system, wherein the file system software comprises a file expiration mechanism configured to; store expiration policies for at least some files within the file system in file system metadata maintained by the file system software, wherein each expiration policy is specific to a respective one of the at least some files and specifies one or more metrics for evaluation to determine whether the associated file is ready for expiration, wherein the file system metadata includes information that the file system software maintains on files stored in the file system, wherein a specific expiration policy associated with a file is stored in a portion of the information that the file system software maintains on the files stored in the file system that is specific to the file and that also includes location information for the file; wherein said storing, for said at least some files, a respective expiration policy for the respective file in a portion of the information that is specific to the respective file and that also includes location information for the file, enables each of the at least some files for moving or copying to another location while maintaining its association with its respective expiration policy; evaluate the expiration policies stored in the file system metadata to determine if the files have passed an expiration date; and grant or deny access to particular ones of the files in the file system in accordance with results of said evaluation of the expiration policies. - View Dependent Claims (20, 26, 27)
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21. A computer-accessible storage medium comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:
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storing expiration policies for at least some files within a file system in file system metadata maintained by file system software, wherein each expiration policy is specific to a respective one of the at least some files and specifies one or more metrics for evaluation to determine whether the associated file is ready for expiration, wherein the file system metadata includes information that the file system software maintains on files stored in the file system, wherein a specific expiration policy associated with a file is stored in a portion of the information that the file system software maintains on the files stored in the file system that is specific to the file and that also includes location information for the file, and wherein the file system software is configured to manage and control access to the file system; wherein said storing, for said at least some files, a respective expiration policy for the respective file in a portion of the information that is specific to the respective file and that also includes location information for the file, enables each of the at least some files for moving or copying to another location while maintaining its association with its respective expiration policy; evaluating the expiration policies stored in the file system metadata to determine files that have passed an expiration date; and granting or denying access to particular ones of the files in the file system according to results of said evaluation of the expiration policies, wherein access is denied for files that have passed the expiration date. - View Dependent Claims (22, 28, 29)
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Specification