File detection device and method

• US 8,145,687 B2
• Filed: 04/08/2009
• Issued: 03/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Nakashiro, Koki, Ogawa, Yukio
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Cam-Linh
• Application Number:
  US12/527,167
• Publication Number:
  US 20110184970A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,084 Days
• Field of Search: 707/802, 707/826, 707/827, 707/672, 707/688, 707/695
• US Class Current: 707/822
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1734 Details of monitoring file system events, e.g. by the use of hooks, filter drivers, logs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1827 Management specifically adapted to NAS management of storage area networks [SAN] G06F3/067

Abstract

Since no access history is generated for when a file update which makes use of a copy and paste function is performed, it is difficult to detect the file that served as the reference source during the update. Hence, the present invention is provided to manage a client access history for each file that is stored in a storage device, and detect a file, which has been accessed between a time when a corresponding user logs into the storage device and a time when an updated file is updated based on information of the access history, as the reference source for the updated file.

Claims

1. A file detection device, included in a network node controller, for detecting a specified file among a plurality of files stored in a storage device, comprising:

an access history management unit for managing an access history of a client with respect to individual files that constitute the plurality of files; and

a file detection unit for detecting a file, which is accessed between a time when a corresponding user logs into the storage device and a time when any of the plurality of files is updated on the basis of information of the access history, as a reference source candidate for the updated file,

wherein the access history management unit receives a file access request from the client and provides the client with file access services that provide the client with a file designated by the file access request among the plurality of files stored in the storage device,

wherein the network node controller constitutes a network connection storage device together with the storage device, and

wherein the network node controller is connected to the client via a network.

2. The file detection device according to claim 1, wherein the file detection unit determines, for each file detected as a reference source candidate, a degree of matching between the updated file and the file detected as the reference source candidate for the updated file, and presents to the user the determined degree of matching for each file detected as a reference source candidate.

3. The file detection device according to claim 1, wherein the file detection unit detects, as a reference source candidate for the updated file, a file among the plurality of files that is accessed in the same time zone as the updated file, on the basis of the information of the access history.

4. The file detection device according to claim 1, wherein a set, which is constituted by the storage device and the

access history management unit for managing the access history of a client with respect to individual files that constitute the plurality of files stored in the storage device, is provided in a plurality, and

wherein the file detection unit acquires information of the access history managed by each of access history management units, detects, as a reference source candidate for the updated file, a file that is accessed between a time when a corresponding user logs into the storage device and a time when any of the plurality of files is updated, for each of storage devices, on the basis of the acquired information of the plurality of access histories, and merges the detection results for each of the storage devices with each of the updated files.

5. A file detection method, implemented in a network node controller, for detecting a specified file among a plurality of files stored in a storage device, comprising:

a first step of managing an access history of a client with respect to individual files that constitute the plurality of files; and

based on the information of the access history,

wherein the storage device exists in a plurality;

in the first step, the access history of a client with respect to individual files that constitute the plurality of files stored in the storage device is managed for each of the storage devices; and

in the second step, information of the access history of each of storage devices is acquired, and a file that is accessed between a time when a corresponding user logs into the storage device and a time when any of the plurality of files is updated is detected as a reference source candidate for the updated file, for each of the storage devices on the basis of the acquired information of the plurality of access histories, and detection results for each of the storage devices are merged with each of the updated files,

wherein the network node controller constitutes a network connection storage device together with the storage device, and

wherein the network node controller is connected to the client via a network.

6. The file detection method according to claim 5, wherein, in the second step, a degree of matching between the updated file and a file detected as a reference source candidate for the updated file is determined for each file detected as the reference source candidate, and the determined degree of matching for each file detected as a reference source candidate is presented to the user.

7. The file detection method according to claim 5, wherein, in the second step, a file among the plurality of files that is accessed in the same time zone as the updated file is detected as a reference source candidate for the updated file, on the basis of the information of the access history.