Data storage system having a unified container layer for an active data store

• US 7,805,417 B2
• Filed: 12/05/2005
• Issued: 09/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Noble, Gary Paul, Stretton, Peter John
• Primary Examiner(s): Jalil; Neveen Abel
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chbouki; Tarek
• Application Number:
  US11/294,129
• Publication Number:
  US 20060085459A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,758 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/694
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2365 Ensuring data consistency and integrity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24564 Applying rules; Deductive queries

Abstract

A data storage system and method for operating the data storage system. The data storage system includes an active data store that contains stored data, a rules engine, and a unified container layer. The rules engine receives a first portion of the stored data from the active data store and apply at least one rule to modify the received first portion of the stored data, resulting in a generation of modified data by the rules engine. The unified container layer: receives and validates the modified data generated by the rules engine, transmits the validated modified data to the active data store, validates external data received from an external source that is external to the data storage system, and transmits the validated external data to the active data store.

Claims

1. A method for operating a data storage system that includes an active data store comprising stored data, a rules engine, and a unified container layer, wherein the method comprises:

receiving, by the rules engine, a first portion of the stored data in the active data store;

applying, by the rules engine, at least one rule to the received first portion of the stored data in the active data store to modify the received first portion of the stored data in the active data store, resulting in a generation of modified data by the rules engine;

receiving and validating, by the unified container layer, the modified data generated by the rules engine;

transmitting, by the unified container layer, the validated modified data to the active data store;

validating, by the unified container layer, external data received by the unified container layer from an external source that is external to the data storage system that includes the active data store comprising the stored data, the rules engine, and the unified container layer,

transmitting, by the unified container layer, the validated external data to the active data store;

publishing, by the unified container layer, a message to a broker located external to the data storage system by transmitting the message across a data communications mechanism to the broker, wherein the message is derived from the modified data generated by the rules engine, wherein a first list of subscribers is stored in a data store of the broker, and wherein each subscriber listed on the first list of subscribers subscribes to a topic associated with the message;

validating, by a validator comprised by the unified container layer, the published message received from the broker; and

filtering, by a filter comprised by the unified container layer, the validated published message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the unified container layer, a second portion of the stored data from the active data store such that the second portion of the stored data is not modified by the rules engine;

validating, by the unified container layer, the received second portion of the stored data; and

transmitting, by the unified container layer, the validated second portion of the stored data to the active data store.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the unified container layer is listed on the first list of subscribers, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the unified container layer, the published message from the broker due to the unified container layer being listed on the first list of subscribers, wherein the broker is the external source, and wherein the published message received from the broker is the external data received by the unified container layer from the external source.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the data communication mechanism, data from application inputs and user inputs such that no direct access to the active data store is permitted for said inputs.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the data communication mechanism comprises a publish and subscribe data communication mechanism, and wherein the method further comprises:

participating, by the data communication mechanism, in data communication with the broker, using said publish and subscribe mechanism, in which the broker acts as a bus by;

(1) receiving published messages by means of transmissions across the data communication mechanism, and (2) making the published messages available to subscribers in the first list of subscribers by transmission of the published messages across the data communication mechanism.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the broker comprises a data store, and wherein the method further comprises said broker examining subscription data in its data store to determine that the data storage system and a second data storage system have subscribed to the topic associated with the message.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises said broker transmitting the message to the data storage system, the second data storage system, and other subscribers on the first list of subscribers, and wherein the other subscribers include at least one of an application and a database.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the unified container layer comprises a sender, a receiver, and a validator, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the sender, the modified data generated by the rules engine;

sending, by the sender, the modified data to the receiver via the data communication mechanism;

receiving, by the receiver, the modified data from the sender via the data communication mechanism;

transmitting, by the receiver, the modified data to the validator, wherein the validator is configured to validate the modified data.

9. The method of claim 3,

wherein the stored data comprises a first entity and a second entity connected to each other by a relationship,

wherein the first entity comprises a first attribute having a first plurality of values,

wherein the second entity comprises a second attribute having a second plurality of values,

wherein the relationship comprises a third attribute having a third plurality of values, and

wherein the method further comprises applying, by the rules engine, the at least one rule to at least one attribute of the first attribute, the second attribute, and the third attribute to generate the message.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the stored data comprises a first entity and a second entity connected to each other by a relationship, wherein the relationship comprises an attribute having a plurality of values, and wherein the method further comprises applying, by the rules engine, the at least one rule to the attribute to generate the message.

11. A computer program product, comprising computer program instructions tangibly embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, said instructions when loaded into a computer system and executed cause said computer system to operate a data storage system by performing a method, wherein the data storage system includes an active data store comprising stored data, a rules engine, and a unified container layer, and wherein the method comprises:

receiving, by the rules engine, a first portion of the stored data in the active data store;

applying, by the rules engine, at least one rule to the received first portion of the stored data in the active data store to modify the received first portion of the stored data in the active data store, resulting in a generation of modified data by the rules engine;

receiving and validating, by the unified container layer, the modified data generated by the rules engine;

transmitting, by the unified container layer, the validated modified data to the active data store;

validating, by the unified container layer, external data received by the unified container layer from an external source that is external to the data storage system that includes the active data store comprising the stored data, the rules engine, and the unified container layer,

transmitting, by the unified container layer, the validated external data to the active data store;

publishing, by the unified container layer, a message to a broker located external to the data storage system by transmitting the message across a data communications mechanism to the broker, wherein the message is derived from the modified data generated by the rules engine, wherein a first list of subscribers is stored in a data store of the broker, and wherein each subscriber listed on the first list of subscribers subscribes to a topic associated with the message;

validating, by a validator comprised by the unified container layer, the published message received from the broker; and

filtering, by a filter comprised by the unified container layer, the validated published message.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the unified container layer, a second portion of the stored data from the active data store such that the second portion of the stored data is not modified by the rules engine;

validating, by the unified container layer, the received second portion of the stored data; and

transmitting, by the unified container layer, the validated second portion of the stored data to the active data store.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the unified container layer is listed on the first list of subscribers, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the unified container layer, the published message from the broker due to the unified container layer being listed on the first list of subscribers, wherein the broker is the external source, and wherein the published message received from the broker is the external data received by the unified container layer from the external source.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the data communication mechanism, data from application inputs and user inputs such that no direct access to the active data store is permitted for said inputs.

15. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the data communication mechanism comprises a publish and subscribe data communication mechanism, and wherein the method further comprises:

participating, by the data communication mechanism, in data communication with the broker, using said publish and subscribe mechanism, in which the broker acts as a bus by;

(1) receiving published messages by means of transmissions across the data communication mechanism, and (2) making the published messages available to subscribers in the first list of subscribers by transmission of the published messages across the data communication mechanism.

16. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the broker comprises a data store and wherein the method further comprises said broker examining subscription data in its data store to determine that the data storage system and a second data storage system have subscribed to the topic associated with the message.

17. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises said broker transmitting the message to the data storage system, the second data storage system, and other subscribers on the first list of subscribers, and wherein the other subscribers include at least one of an application and a database.

18. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the unified container layer comprises a sender, a receiver, and a validator, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the sender, the modified data generated by the rules engine;

sending, by the sender, the modified data to the receiver via the data communication mechanism;

receiving, by the receiver, the modified data from the sender via the data communication mechanism;

transmitting, by the receiver, the modified data to the validator, wherein the validator is configured to validate the modified data.

19. The computer program product of claim 13,

wherein the stored data comprises a first entity and a second entity connected to each other by a relationship,

wherein the first entity comprises a first attribute having a first plurality of values, wherein the second entity comprises a second attribute having a second plurality of values,

wherein the relationship comprises a third attribute having a third plurality of values, and

wherein the method further comprises applying, by the rules engine, the at least one rule to at least one attribute of the first attribute, the second attribute, and the third attribute to generate the message.

20. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the stored data comprises a first entity and a second entity connected to each other by a relationship, wherein the relationship comprises an attribute having a plurality of values, and wherein the method further comprises applying, by the rules engine, the at least one rule to the attribute to generate the message.

21. A computer system comprising a computer and a data storage system, wherein computer program instructions are tangibly embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and configured to be executed by the computer to cause the computer to operate the data storage system by performing a method, wherein the data storage system includes an active data store comprising stored data, a rules engine, and a unified container layer, and wherein the method comprises:

receiving, by the rules engine, a first portion of the stored data in the active data store;

applying, by the rules engine, at least one rule to the received first portion of the stored data in the active data store to modify the received first portion of the stored data in the active data store, resulting in a generation of modified data by the rules engine;

receiving and validating, by the unified container layer, the modified data generated by the rules engine;

transmitting, by the unified container layer, the validated modified data to the active data store;

validating, by the unified container layer, external data received by the unified container layer from an external source that is external to the data storage system that includes the active data store comprising the stored data, the rules engine, and the unified container layer, and transmitting, by the unified container layer, the validated external data to the active data store;

publishing, by the unified container layer, a message to a broker located external to the data storage system by transmitting the message across a data communications mechanism to the broker, wherein the message is derived from the modified data generated by the rules engine, wherein a first list of subscribers is stored in a data store of the broker, and wherein each subscriber listed on the first list of subscribers subscribes to a topic associated with the message;

validating, by a validator comprised by the unified container layer, the published message received from the broker; and

filtering, by a filter comprised by the unified container layer, the validated published message.

22. The computer system of claim 21, wherein the unified container layer is listed on the first list of subscribers, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the unified container layer, the published message from the broker due to the unified container layer being listed on the first list of subscribers, wherein the broker is the external source, and wherein the published message received from the broker is the external data received by the unified container layer from the external source.

23. The computer system of claim 22,

wherein the stored data comprises a first entity and a second entity connected to each other by a relationship,

wherein the first entity comprises a first attribute having a first plurality of values,

wherein the second entity comprises a second attribute having a second plurality of values,

wherein the relationship comprises a third attribute having a third plurality of values, and

wherein the method further comprises applying, by the rules engine, the at least one rule to at least one attribute of the first attribute, the second attribute, and the third attribute to generate the message.

24. The computer system of claim 21, wherein the stored data comprises a first entity and a second entity connected to each other by a relationship, wherein the relationship comprises an attribute having a plurality of values, and wherein the method further comprises applying, by the rules engine, the at least one rule to the attribute to generate the message.