Data management system and method

• US 7,877,516 B2
• Filed: 08/31/2006
• Issued: 01/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MEC Management, LLC (Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota)
• Original Assignee: Ivor Systems LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Walsh, Sandy, Giroux, Philippe
• Primary Examiner(s): SHIN, KYUNG H
• Application Number:
  US11/468,878
• Publication Number:
  US 20070067448A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,608 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/246
• US Class Current: 709/246
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/254 Extract, transform and load [ETL] procedures, e.g. ETL data flows in data warehouses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method of replicating data on a source to a destination comprising the steps of: extracting data from a source via a user interface in a source format; converting the extracted data from the source'"'"'s format into a destination format; and uploading the converted data to said destination.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

accessing, in response to a data transfer request, a first account at a first location via a first interface, wherein the first account is accessed by emulating a first authentication operation, and wherein the first account is associated with a first application;

extracting data in a first format from the first account at the first location by emulating a first interaction operation;

converting the extracted data into a second format; and

transferring the converted data to a second account at a second location, wherein the second account is associated with a second application, and wherein the second application provides a similar service with respect to the first application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the extracted data comprises a folder structure.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising emulating a second authentication operation to access the second account.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein emulating the second authentication operation comprises emulating the second authentication operation via a second interface associated with the second account.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein emulating the second authentication operation comprises entering at least one of an identifier or a password associated with the second account.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising causing the transferred data to be saved at the second location using an import utility.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring the first location for additional data associated with the first account.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

accessing, in response to an identification of the additional data, the first account via the first interface by emulating the first authentication operation;

extracting the additional data in the first format from the first account by emulating a second interaction operation;

converting the extracted additional data into the second format; and

transferring the converted additional data to the second account at the second location.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the monitoring for the additional data occurs after transferring the converted data to the second account.

10. An article of manufacture including a computer-readable medium having non-transitory instructions stored thereon, that if executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

accessing in response to a data transfer request, a first account at a first location via an interface, wherein accessing the first account includes emulating a first authentication operation, and wherein the first account is associated with a first application;

extracting data in a first format from the first account by emulating an interaction operation, wherein the extracted data comprises user account data and user account organizational structure;

converting the extracted data into a second format; and

transferring the converted data to a second account at a second location, wherein the second account is associated with a second application, and wherein the second application provides a similar service with respect to the first application.

11. The article of manufacture of claim 10, wherein the computing device further performs operations comprising accessing the first account via a graphic user interface.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 10, wherein the computing device further performs operations comprising accessing the second account by emulating a second authentication operation.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 12, wherein the operations that cause the computing device to access the second account by emulating the second authentication operation include operations that facilitate entering a password associated with the second account.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 10, wherein the computing device further performs operations comprising saving the extracted data.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 10, wherein the computing device further performs operations comprising monitoring the first location for additional data associated with the first account, wherein the monitoring occurs subsequent to the transfer of the converted data to the second account.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 10, wherein the operations that cause the computing device to emulate the first authentication operation include operations that facilitate entering a password associated with the first account into the interface.

17. A computing device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory operatively coupled to the processor and storing computer-readable instructions that, in response to execution by the computing device, cause the computing device to;

emulate, in response to a data transfer request, a first authentication operation to access a first account at a first location via an interface, wherein the first account is associated with a first application;

emulate an interaction operation to extract data in a first format from the first account, wherein the extracted data comprises user account data and user account organizational structure;

convert the extracted data into a second format; and

transfer the converted data to a second account at a second location, wherein the second account is associated with a second application, and wherein the second application provides a similar service with respect to the first application.

18. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the first account comprises a first e-mail account and the second account comprises a second e-mail account.

19. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the computer-readable instructions further cause the computing device to access the second account by emulating a second authentication operation.

20. The computing device of claim 19, wherein emulating the second authentication operation comprises receiving an identification and a password associated with the second account.

21. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the computer-readable instructions further cause the computing device to request the transferred data be saved at the second location.

22. The computing device of claim 17, further comprising a server, wherein the data transfer request is received from a web site in communication with the server.

23. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the computer-readable instructions further cause the computing device to derive source data from the extracted data, wherein the source data is transferred to the second account.

24. The computing device of claim 23, wherein the source data is derived using a delta technique.