Aliasing of exported paths in a storage system
First Claim
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1. A method of operation of a storage system comprising:
- reading, by the storage system, an export rule associated with an exported resource in the storage system;
determining whether the export rule includes a directive that associates an advertised pathname of the exported resource with an actual pathname of the exported resource, the advertised pathname identifying a virtual export point and the actual pathname identifying a physical export point;
in response to a determination that the export rule does not include the directive, using the advertised pathname of the exported resource to obtain a filehandle of the exported resource, the filehandle being a value uniquely associated with the exported resource;
in response to a determination that the export rule includes the directive, determining whether the actual pathname of the export resource is the advertised pathname of another resource;
in response to a determination that the export rule includes the directive and that the actual pathname of the export resource is not the advertised pathname of another resource, using the actual pathname to obtain the filehandle of the exported resource without clients of the storage system having knowledge that the exported resource is stored according to the actual pathname; and
populating an entry for the exported resource in a data structure with the advertised pathname of the exported resource and the filehandle, the data structure for use in processing requests, from the clients of the storage system, to mount exported resources and enable the client to access the exported resource in the storage system with the filehandle.
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Abstract
A storage system, such as a file server, uses pathname aliasing and exports a stored resource to clients by advertising to the clients a different pathname than the actual pathname of the resource.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method of operation of a storage system comprising:
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reading, by the storage system, an export rule associated with an exported resource in the storage system; determining whether the export rule includes a directive that associates an advertised pathname of the exported resource with an actual pathname of the exported resource, the advertised pathname identifying a virtual export point and the actual pathname identifying a physical export point; in response to a determination that the export rule does not include the directive, using the advertised pathname of the exported resource to obtain a filehandle of the exported resource, the filehandle being a value uniquely associated with the exported resource; in response to a determination that the export rule includes the directive, determining whether the actual pathname of the export resource is the advertised pathname of another resource; in response to a determination that the export rule includes the directive and that the actual pathname of the export resource is not the advertised pathname of another resource, using the actual pathname to obtain the filehandle of the exported resource without clients of the storage system having knowledge that the exported resource is stored according to the actual pathname; and populating an entry for the exported resource in a data structure with the advertised pathname of the exported resource and the filehandle, the data structure for use in processing requests, from the clients of the storage system, to mount exported resources and enable the client to access the exported resource in the storage system with the filehandle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A storage system comprising:
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a processor; a storage interface through which to couple the storage system to a plurality of mass storage devices storing a resource; a network interface through which to receive from a client a request for access to the resource; and a memory having stored therein instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the storage system to read an export rule associated with the resource in the storage system; determine whether the export rule includes a directive that associates an advertised pathname of the exported resource with an actual pathname of the exported resource, the advertised pathname identifying a virtual export point and the actual pathname identifying a physical export point; in response to a determination that the export rule does not include the directive, use an advertised pathname of the resource to obtain a filehandle of the resource, the filehandle being a value uniquely associated with the resource; in response to a determination that the export rule includes the directive, determine whether an actual pathname of the resource is the advertised pathname of another resource; in response to a determination that the export rule includes the directive and that the actual pathname of the resource is not the advertised pathname of another resource, use the actual pathname to obtain the filehandle of the resource without client of the storage system having knowledge that the resource is stored according to the actual pathname; and populate an entry for the resource in a data structure with the advertised pathname of the resource and the filehandle, the data structure for use in processing requests, from the client of the storage system, to mount the resource and enable the client to access the resource in the storage system with the filehandle. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A storage system, comprising:
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means for reading an export rule associated with an exported resource in the storage system; means for determining whether the export rule includes a directive that associates an advertised pathname of the exported resource with an actual pathname of the exported resource, the advertised pathname identifying a virtual export point and the actual pathname identifying a physical export point; means for using the advertised pathname of the exported resource to obtain a filehandle of the exported resource, in response to a determination that the export rule does not include the directive, the filehandle being a value uniquely associated with the exported resource; means for determining whether the actual pathname of the export resource is the advertised pathname of another resource, in response to a determination that the export rule includes the directive; means for using the actual pathname to obtain the filehandle of the exported resource without clients of the storage system having knowledge that the exported resource is stored according to the actual pathname, in response to a determination that the export rule includes the directive and that the actual pathname of the export resource is not the advertised pathname of another resource; and means for populating an entry for the exported resource in a data structure with the advertised pathname of the exported resource and the filehandle, the data structure for use in processing requests, from the clients of the storage system, to mount exported resources and enable the client to access the exported resource in the storage system with the filehandle. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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Specification