Service method of a rental storage and a rental storage system

• US 20020152181A1
• Filed: 08/02/2001
• Published: 10/17/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Fujimoto, Kazuhisa, Kanai, Hiroki, Uchigiri, Tatsumi
• Granted Patent: US 6,988,087 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/80
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation

Abstract

The present invention provides a service method of rental storage, which, when a rental storage service provider provides a rental storage for rental storage service users, allows ideal use of storages in correspondence with the billing charge to the users by proposing the most optimum contract options to the users, and which allows suppressing the management cost of the users.

The service method of rental storage through network connection, the storage provider will estimate the future usage of storage based on the history of usage of storage by the rental storage service user to report the estimation to the user. The rental storage service user will update the contract by expanding or reducing the amount of data usage so as to receive the most optimum contract conditions of rental storage service.

Claims

1. A service method of a rental storage, in which a rental storage user uses the rental storage provided by a storage provider on a network and said storage user and said storage provider communicate with respect to the rental storage service, comprising the steps of:

providing by the rental storage service provider the estimation of future storage usage of said rental storage service user, based on the history of storage usage of said rental storage service user; and

reporting the estimation to said storage user.

2. A service method of a rental storage, in which a rental storage user uses the rental storage provided by a storage service provider on a network and said storage user and said storage provider communicate with respect to the rental storage service, comprising the steps of:

making a contract between said rental storage service provider and said rental storage service user so as to configure the contract options based on the contract of use of storage service;

using the storage of said rental storage service provider by the rental storage service user;

reporting the charge to the rental storage service user by the rental storage service provider;

paying the charge for the use of said storage by the rental storage service user to the rental storage service provider;

reporting the history of storage usage record and the estimated amount of data to the rental storage service user from the rental storage service provider; and

reconfiguring said contract options by said rental storage service provider.

6. A service method of a rental storage set forth in claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

proposing by said rental storage service provider a reduction plan of data used by said rental storage service user; and

reducing the data used by said rental storage service user in accordance with the recommended reduction plan of data;

prior to the step of reconfiguring said contract options.

7. A service method of a rental storage set forth in claim 6, in which:

when said rental storage service user deletes data in use in accordance with the recommended reduction plan of data,

said rental storage service provider duplicates on a portable medium a backup copy of the data specified to delete by said rental storage service user; and

said rental storage service provider sends the backup copy of data to the rental storage service user.

3. A service method of a rental storage, in which a rental storage user uses the rental storage provided by a storage service provider on a network and said storage user and said storage provider communicate with respect to the rental storage service, comprising the steps of:

when said rental storage service provider and said rental storage service user make a contract and the contract options based on the contract of use of said storage specifies a charge system for the contracted amount of data according to the predetermined usage,

estimating by said rental storage service provider the storage usage in the future based on the history of storage usage by said rental storage service user;

proposing to said rental storage service user a recommended contract on the amount of data according to the estimation.

4. A service method of a rental storage set forth in claim 3, in which:

the step of proposing to said rental storage service user a recommended contract on the amount of data include the substep of;

proposing reduction of amount of data contracted for the storage usage if the storage usage estimated is less than the currently contracted storage usage.

5. A service method of a rental storage set forth in claim 3, in which:

when said rental storage service user updates said contract options in accordance with the desirable amount of data usage of storage recommended by said rental storage service provider,

if the amount of data usage by said rental storage service user exceeds the contracted amount of data for storage usage reconfigured within the contract period of the contract,

said rental storage service user will be allowed using the storage service for the data beyond the contracted amount of said storage usage.