File distribution system and method

• US 8,335,807 B1
• Filed: 08/30/2004
• Issued: 12/18/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Cerda, Salvador Jr., Bertz, Lyle Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Mofiz, Apu
• Application Number:
  US10/929,305
• Time in Patent Office: 3,032 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/827
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/182 Distributed file systems

Abstract

A file distribution system is provided. The file distribution system includes a communication interface configured to communicate with a plurality of storage devices, to receive a file from a file source, and to transfer two or more file portions to two or more storage devices of the plurality of storage devices. The file distribution system further includes a processing system coupled to the communication interface, with the processing system being configured to receive the file from the communication interface, divide at least part of the file into the two or more file portions, and distribute the two or more file portions to the two or more storage devices through the communication interface. The two or more storage devices correspond to the two or more file portions. Each storage device of the two or more storage devices is separate from all other storage devices of the two or more storage devices.

Claims

1. A file distribution system, comprising:

a communication interface configured to communicate with a plurality of storage devices, to receive a file from a file source, receive a file distribution request from the file source before receiving the file, and to transfer two or more file portions to two or more storage devices of the plurality of storage devices; and

a processing system comprising at least one processing device, wherein the processing system is coupled to the communication interface, with the processing system being configured to, in response to the file distribution request, allocate the two or more storage devices for use in distributively storing the file before receiving the file, signal the file source through the communication interface to send the file for distribution, receive the file from the communication interface, divide only a part of the file into the two or more file portions, send two or more file portion identifiers to the file source through the communication interface, with the two or more file portion identifiers corresponding to the two or more file portions after the dividing, and distribute the two or more file portions to the two or more storage devices through the communication interface, with the two or more storage devices corresponding to the two or more file portions and wherein each storage device of the two or more storage devices is separate from all other storage devices of the two or more storage devices,

wherein the processing system is further configured to iteratively divide and distribute the file.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a buffer configured to receive and hold the file received from the communication interface for communication to the processing system.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a buffer configured to receive and hold the two or more file portions received from the processing system for communication to the communication interface.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the each storage device is geographically separate from the all other storage devices.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein each file portion of the two or more file portions is of an equal size.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the file is divided into a plurality of file portions, with a number of file portions in the plurality of file portions being greater than a number of storage devices in the two or more storage devices, and wherein a storage device of the two or more storage devices stores two or more non-contiguous file portions.

7. The system of claim 1, with the processing system being further configured to form at least a portion of the file into a block of data by transforming sequential sections of the at least a portion of the file into a plurality of rows of the block of data before the dividing, and with the dividing comprising slicing the file.

8. The system of claim 1, with the processing system being further configured to form at least a portion of the file into a block of data by transforming sequential sections of the at least a portion of the file into a plurality of rows of the block of data before the dividing, and with the dividing comprising vertically slicing the file.

9. The system of claim 1, with the processing system being further configured to send file portion identifiers to the file source after the dividing, with the file portion identifiers corresponding to the two or more file portions.

10. The system of claim 1, with the processing system being further configured to transmit identifiers of the two or more storage devices to the file source after the allocating.

11. The system of claim 1, with the processing system being further configured to:

generate a corresponding storage tag for a storage device of the two or more storage devices after the allocating, wherein the storage tag is unique and identifies the corresponding storage device; and

transmit the storage tag to the file source.

12. The system of claim 1, with the processing system being further configured to:

form at least a portion of the file into a block of data;

with the dividing further comprising slicing the block of data into two or more file slices corresponding to the two or more storage devices;

with the distributing comprising distributing the two or more file slices to the two or more storage devices; and

send file slice identifiers to the file source corresponding to the two or more file slices.

13. The system of claim 1, with the processing system being further configured to:

generate two or more storage tags corresponding to the two or more storage devices;

add two or more file portion identifiers to the two or more corresponding storage tags after the dividing;

iteratively divide and distribute the file until the file is completely distributed; and

transmit the two or more storage tags to the file source after completion of the dividing and distributing steps.

14. The system of claim 1, with the processing system being further configured to:

receive a distributed file retrieval request from the file source;

recall the two or more file portions from the two or more storage devices;

combine the two or more file portions in order to re-assemble at least a portion of the file; and

transfer the file to the file source.

15. A file distribution method, comprising:

receiving a file distribution request from a file source before receiving a file;

in response to the file distribution request, allocating two or more storage devices for use in distributively storing the file before receiving the file;

signaling the file source to send the file for distribution;

receiving the file from the file source;

dividing only a part of the file into two or more file portions;

sending two or more file portion identifiers to the file source after the dividing, with the two or more file portion identifiers corresponding to the two or more file portions;

distributing the two or more file portions to two or more corresponding storage devices, wherein each storage device of the two or more storage devices is separate from all other storage devices of the two or more storage devices; and

iteratively dividing and distributing the file.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the each storage device is geographically separate from the all other storage devices.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein each file portion of the two or more file portions is of an equal size.

18. The method of claim 15, with a total number of file portions being greater than a number of storage devices in the two or more storage devices, and wherein a storage device of the two or more storage devices stores two or more non-contiguous file portions.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising before the dividing forming at least a portion of the file into a block of data by transforming sequential sections of the at least a portion of the file into a plurality of rows of the block of data, and with the dividing comprising slicing the file.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising before the dividing forming at least a portion of the file into a block of data by transforming sequential sections of the at least a portion of the file into a plurality of rows of the block of data, and with the dividing comprising vertically slicing the file.

21. The method of claim 15, further comprising after the dividing sending file portion identifiers to the file source, with the file portion identifiers corresponding to the two or more file portions.

22. The method of claim 15, with the allocating further comprising transmitting identifiers of the two or more storage devices to the file source.

23. The method of claim 15, with the allocating further comprising:

generating a corresponding storage tag for a storage device of the two or more storage devices, wherein the storage tag is unique and identifies the corresponding storage device; and

transmitting the storage tag to the file source.

24. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

forming at least a portion of the file into a block of data;

with the dividing comprising slicing the block of data into two or more file slices corresponding to the two or more storage devices;

with the distributing comprising distributing the two or more file slices to the two or more storage devices; and

sending file slice identifiers to the file source corresponding to the two or more file slices.

25. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

generating two or more storage tags corresponding to the two or more storage devices;

adding two or more file portion identifiers to the two or more corresponding storage tags after the dividing;

iteratively dividing and distributing the file until the file is completely distributed; and

transmitting the two or more storage tags to the file source after completion of the dividing and distributing steps.

26. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

receiving a distributed file retrieval request from the file source;

recalling the two or more file portions from the two or more storage devices;

combining the two or more file portions in order to re-assemble at least a portion of the file; and

transferring the file to the file source.

27. A file distribution method, comprising:

receiving a file distribution request from a file source before receiving a file;

in response to the file distribution request, allocating two or more storage devices for use in distributively storing the file before receiving the file;

signaling the file source to send the file for distribution;

receiving the file from the file source;

forming only a portion of the file into a block of data;

dividing the block of data into two or more file portions;

sending two or more file portion identifiers to the file source after the dividing, with the two or more file portion identifiers corresponding to the two or more file portions;

distributing the two or more file portions to two or more corresponding storage devices, wherein each storage device of the two or more storage devices is separate from all other storage devices of the two or more storage devices; and

iteratively dividing and distributing the file.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the each storage device is geographically separate from the all other storage devices.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein each file portion of the two or more file portions is of an equal size.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein the file is divided into a plurality of file portions, with a number of file portions in the plurality of file portions being greater than a number of storage devices in the two or more storage devices, and wherein a storage device of the two or more storage devices stores two or more non-contiguous file portions.

31. The method of claim 27, further comprising forming the block of data by transforming sequential sections of the at least a portion of the block of data into a plurality of rows of the block of data.

32. The method of claim 27, further comprising after the dividing sending file portion identifiers to the file source, with the file portion identifiers corresponding to the two or more file portions.

33. The method of claim 27, with the dividing comprising slicing the block of data.

34. The method of claim 27, with the dividing comprising vertically slicing the block of data.

35. The method of claim 27, with the allocating further comprising transmitting identifiers of the two or more storage devices to the file source.

36. The method of claim 27, with the allocating further comprising:

generating a corresponding storage tag for a storage device of the two or more storage devices, wherein the storage tag is unique and identifies the corresponding storage device; and

transmitting the storage tag to the file source.

37. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

generating two or more storage tags corresponding to the two or more storage devices;

adding two or more file portion identifiers to the two or more corresponding storage tags after the dividing;

iteratively forming, dividing, and distributing the file until the file is completely distributed; and

transmitting the two or more storage tags to the file source after completion of the dividing and distributing steps.

38. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

receiving a distributed file retrieval request from the file source;

recalling the two or more file portions from the two or more storage devices;

combining the two or more file portions in order to re-assemble at least a portion of the file; and

transferring the file to the file source.

39. A file distribution method, comprising:

receiving a file distribution request from a file source before receiving a file;

in response to the file distribution request, allocating two or more storage devices for use in distributively storing the file before receiving the file;

signaling the file source to send the file for distribution;

receiving the file from the file source;

forming only a portion of the file into a block of data;

slicing the block of data into two or more file slices corresponding to the two or more storage devices; and

sending two or more file slice identifiers to the file source after the slicing, with the two or more file slice identifiers corresponding to the two or more file slices;

distributing the two or more file slices to the two or more storage devices, wherein each storage device of the two or more storage devices is separate from all other storage devices of the two or more storage devices; and

iteratively forming, slicing, and distributing the file.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the each storage device is geographically separate from the all other storage devices.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein each file slice of the two or more file slices is of an equal size.

42. The method of claim 39, wherein the file is sliced into a plurality of file slices, with a number of file slices in the plurality of file slices being greater than a number of storage devices in the two or more storage devices, and wherein a storage device of the two or more storage devices stores two or more non-contiguous file slices.

43. The method of claim 39, further comprising forming the block of data by transforming sequential sections of the at least a portion of the block of data into a plurality of rows of the block of data.

44. The method of claim 39, further comprising after the slicing sending two or more file slice identifiers to the file source, with the two or more file slice identifiers corresponding to the two or more file slices.

45. The method of claim 39, with the slicing comprising vertically slicing the block of data.

46. The method of claim 39, with the allocating further comprising transmitting identifiers of the two or more storage devices to the file source.

47. The method of claim 39, with the allocating further comprising:

generating a corresponding storage tag for a storage device of the two or more storage devices, wherein the storage tag is unique and identifies the corresponding storage device; and

transmitting the storage tag to the file source.

48. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

generating two or more storage tags corresponding to the two or more storage devices;

adding two or more file slice identifiers to the two or more corresponding storage tags after the slicing;

iteratively forming, slicing, and distributing the file until the file is completely distributed; and

transmitting the two or more storage tags to the file source after completion of the slicing and distributing steps.

49. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

receiving a distributed file retrieval request from the file source;

recalling the two or more file portions from the two or more storage devices;

combining the two or more file portions in order to re-assemble the file; and

transferring the file to the file source.