Local resource delivery network

• US 10,021,179 B1
• Filed: 02/21/2012
• Issued: 07/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Velummylum, Piragash, Marshall, Bradley E., Gabrielson, Jacob
• Primary Examiner(s): Book, Phyllis A
• Application Number:
  US13/401,715
• Time in Patent Office: 2,331 Days
• Field of Search: 707609, 707610, 707640, 707689, 707705, 707736, 707758, 707781-784, 707805, 707812, 709201-203, 709208, 709212-214, 709216-219, 709226, 709245-247, 710 4, 710 15, 710 18, 710 19, 710 22, 710 26, 710 28, 710 36, 710 44, 710 68, 710 74, 711100, 711112, 711136, 711147, 711152, 711160, 711162-164, 711173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/14 Details of searching files based on file metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1824 implemented using Network-attached Storage [NAS] architecture distributed or networked storage systems G06F3/067; protocols for distributed storage of data in a network H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/188 Virtual file systems
• 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 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5683 Storage of data provided by user terminals, i.e. reverse caching

Abstract

A local area network (LAN) may contain several local computing devices that are in communication with a remote network storage provider that is not part of the LAN. Resources may be available from the remote network storage provider. When a user requests a resource using a first local computing device in the LAN, the first local computing device may check the other local computing devices on that are in the LAN for the resource before requesting the resource from the remote network storage provider. If the resource is available within the LAN, the resource is not requested from the remote network storage provider.

Claims

1. A method for retrieving a resource for a user comprising:

determining, by a first computer device on a local area network, one or more computer devices connected to the local area network and configured to host resources, wherein the local area network comprises a local access point, each of the one or more computer devices are connected to the local access point, wherein a remote network storage provider is not connected to the local area network and the one or more computer devices communicate with remote network storage provider via the local access point;

receiving, by the first computer device, a request for a resource;

transmitting a request to at least one of the one or more computer devices connected to the local area network to determine whether the resource is available from the one or more computer devices connected to the local area network;

receiving responses from the at least one of the one or more computer devices connected to the local area network indicating whether the resource is available from the one or more computer devices connected to the local area network;

if the received responses from the one or more computer devices indicate that the resource is available,

accessing, by the first computer device, an indication that the resource is available from a second computer device of the one or more computer devices connected to the local area network; and

requesting, by the first computer device, the most recent version of the resource hosted by the second computer device of the one or more computer devices connected to the local area network; and

determining, by the second computer system, whether the first computer system is authorized to receive the resource based, at least in part, on metadata comprising authorization information associated with the resource, wherein the metadata includes an encrypted token that allows access to the resource to computer devices capable of decrypting the token;

if the received responses from the one or more computer devices indicate that the resource is not available, requesting, by the first computer device, the resource from the remote network storage provider that is not connected to the local area network.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

monitoring, by the first computer device, resource availability data, the resource availability data comprising an indication of a plurality of available resources from the second computer device or the remote computer system;

determining, by the first computer device, whether the first computer device should pre-fetch one of the plurality of available resources; and

automatically pre-fetching, by the first computer, the one of the plurality of from the second computer device or the remote computer system.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining whether the first computer device should pre-fetch one of the plurality of available resources is based at least in part on the last accessed time of the plurality of resources.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining whether the first computer device should pre-fetch one of the plurality of available resources is based at least in part on a type of the plurality of resources.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more computer devices are connected to the local access point using a wired connection or a wireless connection.

6. The method of claim 1, transmitting a request comprises polling each of the one of the one or more computer devices connected to the local area network to determine whether the resource is available from the one or more computer devices connected to the local area network.

7. A computer system connected to a local area network, the computer system comprising:

a processor;

a computer readable medium storing software instructions that when executed cause the processor to;

detect one or more participating local computer devices, each of the participating local computer devices connected to the local area network and configured to provide resources to the other participating local computer devices, wherein the local area network comprises a local access point, each of the one or more participating local computer devices within the local area network are connected to the local access point, wherein a remote network storage provider is not connected to the local area network and the one or more participating local computer devices communicate with remote network storage provider via the local access point;

receive a request for a resource;

transmit a request to one or more of the participating local computer devices to determine whether the resource is available from one of the participating local computer devices within the local area network;

receive responses from the one or more of the participating local computer devices indicating whether the resource is available from the one or more participating local computer devices;

if the received responses indicate that the resource is available from one of the participating local computer devices within the local area network,

request the resource from the participating local computer device that has the resource;

receive the requested resource from the participating local computing device if the participating local computer device determines that the computer system is authorized to receive the requested resource based at least in part on authorization information included within the metadata of the resource, wherein the metadata includes an encrypted token that allows access to the resource to computing devices capable of decrypting the token; and

if the received responses indicate that the resource is not available from one of the participating local computer devices within the local area network, request the resource from the remote network storage provider not connected to the local area network.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the software instructions stored in the computer readable medium further cause the processor to receive resource description data from the remote computer system.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the software instructions stored in the computer readable medium further cause the processor to receive resource description data from one of the participating computer devices.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the software instructions stored in the computer readable medium further cause the processor to:

receive resource availability data from the remote computer system, the resource availability data indicating a plurality of available resources from the remote computer system;

determine whether to pre-fetch one of the plurality available resources; and

automatically pre-fetch one of the plurality of available resources from the remote computer system.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the determining whether to pre-fetch one of the plurality of available resources is based at least in part on the last accessed time of the plurality of resources.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein the determining whether to pre-fetch one of the plurality of available resources is based at least in part on a type of the plurality of resources.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein the software instructions stored in the computer readable medium further cause the processor to modify the resource availability data to reflect that the system has an updated version of the resource.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the resource is stored by the computer system with a first attribute, and the software instructions stored in the computer readable medium further cause the processor to provide the resource to the requesting computer device with a second attribute.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the resource is a video resource and the software instructions stored in the computer readable medium further cause the processor to stream the resource to the requesting computer device.

16. The system of claim 7, wherein the request for the resource comprises a requested version, and wherein the software instructions stored in the computer readable medium further cause the processor to verify that the resource from the local computer device hosting the resource matches the requested version.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing software instructions that when executed by a processor of a computer system, cause the processor to:

receive information describing resources available from a remote network storage provider that is not connected to a local area network of the computer system;

detect one or more participating local computer devices, each of the participating local computer devices connected to the local area network, wherein the local area network comprises a local access point, each of the one or more participating local computer devices within the local area network are connected to the local access point, wherein the one or more participating local computer devices communicate with the remote network storage provider via the local access point;

receive a request for a resource;

transmit a request to one or more of the participating local computer devices to determine whether the most recent version of the updated resource is located on one of the participating local computing devices within the local area network;

receive responses from the one or more of the participating local computer devices indicating whether the resource is available from the one or more participating local computer devices;

if the received responses indicate that the resource is located on one of the participating local computing devices within the local area network,

request the resource from the participating local computer device that has the resource;

receive the requested resource from the participating local computing device if the participating local computer device determines that the computer system is authorized to receive the requested resource based at least in part on authorization information included within the metadata of the resource, wherein the metadata includes an encrypted token that allows access to the resource to computer devices capable of decrypting the token; and

if the received responses indicate that the resource is not available from one of the participating local computer devices within the local area network, request the resource from the remote network storage provider.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the software instructions stored in the computer readable medium further cause the processor to determine that the requesting computer devices has been authorized to receive the stored resource.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the stored resource has a first characteristic, and the software instructions stored in the computer readable medium further cause the processor to provide the resource to the requesting computer device with a second characteristic.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the stored resource is a video resource, and software instructions stored in the computer readable medium further cause the processor to stream the stored resource to the requesting computer device.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the software instructions stored in the computer readable medium further cause the processor to periodically broadcast a notification data packet that provides an indication that the system is a participating local computer device.

22. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 wherein the software instructions stored in the computer readable medium further cause the processor to detect the one or more participating local computer devices by receiving notification data packets sent by the participating local computer devices.

23. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 wherein the software instructions stored in the computer readable medium further cause the processor to detect the one or more participating local computer devices by determining all of the computer devices connected to the local area network and attempting to establish a connection to a port configured to receive requests for resources.