Providing multiple concurrent access to a file system
First Claim
1. A data storage system networked to each of a plurality of computers, the data storage system comprising:
- a non-transitory data storage unit that stores data in files that are accessible by the computers, each file having a file lock and each file lock having data fields including an owner field and a time field,wherein the owner field of each file lock stores a value that indicates which one of the computers or none of the computers owns the file lock, the time field of each file lock stores a value that indicates whether or not a time period for owning the file lock has expired, and the owner field and the time field of each file lock are accessible by any one of the plurality of computers for writing values therein, without using any other computer, to indicate that the computer that has written the values owns the file lock.
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Abstract
Multiple computers are connected to a data storage unit that includes a file system, which further includes multiple data entities, including files, directories and the file system itself. The file system also includes, for each data entity, an owner field for indicating which computer, if any, has exclusive or shared access to the data entity, along with a time field for indicating when a lease of the data entity began. When a computer wants to lease a data entity, the computer uses a disk reservation capability to temporarily lock the data storage unit, and, if the data entity is not currently leased, the computer writes its own identification value into the owner field and a current time into the time field for the data entity, to claim the data entity for a renewable lease period. If a prior lease of a data entity has expired, another computer may break the lease and claim ownership for itself.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A data storage system networked to each of a plurality of computers, the data storage system comprising:
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a non-transitory data storage unit that stores data in files that are accessible by the computers, each file having a file lock and each file lock having data fields including an owner field and a time field, wherein the owner field of each file lock stores a value that indicates which one of the computers or none of the computers owns the file lock, the time field of each file lock stores a value that indicates whether or not a time period for owning the file lock has expired, and the owner field and the time field of each file lock are accessible by any one of the plurality of computers for writing values therein, without using any other computer, to indicate that the computer that has written the values owns the file lock. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A data storage system comprising:
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a plurality of computers in which virtual machines are executing; a non-transitory data storage unit that stores virtual disks for the virtual machines, the virtual disks being stored as files accessible by each of the plurality of computers in which the virtual machines are executing; and file locks, each of which is associated with one of the virtual disks and includes an owner field and a time field, wherein the owner field of each file lock stores a value that indicates which one of the computers or none of the computers owns the file lock, the time field of each file lock stores a value that indicates whether or not a time period for owning the file lock has expired, and the owner field and the time field of each file lock are accessible by any one of the plurality of computers for writing values therein, without using any other computer, to indicate that the computer that has written the values owns the file lock. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification