STORAGE AND MANAGEMENT OF MAIL ATTACHMENTS

• US 20160315892A1
• Filed: 06/30/2016
• Published: 10/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: MUTHA, Manas Bhikchand, SINHA, Prosenjit, AHN, Jun H.
• Granted Patent: US 10,673,793 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/063 Content adaptation, e.g. replacement of unsuitable content
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

A system according to certain aspects improves the process of sending emails containing attachments. The system can detect a request to send an email containing attachments to one or more recipients, create a copy of the attachments on a network storage device, replace the attachments contained in the email with links to the copies of the attachments, and send the email containing the links to the one or more recipients.

Claims

1. A method for implementing retention policies of mail attachment data, the method comprising:

with one or more computing devices comprising computer hardware,

detecting a request to send a mail object from a sender to one or more recipients, the mail object containing at least one mail attachment data file;

creating a tagged copy of the at least one mail attachment data file on a network storage device accessible by the sender and/or the one or more recipients, the tagged copy associated with a retention policy specifying a first time period for retaining the tagged copy on the network storage device;

replacing the at least one mail attachment data file contained in the mail object with a link to the tagged copy of the at least one mail attachment data file stored in the network storage device; and

sending the mail object containing the link to the tagged copy of the at least one mail attachment data file to the one or more recipients.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising removing the tagged copy from the network storage device after the first time period has passed.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether one or more aliases associated with the one or more recipients include a first string; and

in response to determining that the one or more aliases associated with the one or more recipients include the first string, tagging the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file with the retention policy.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether a file type of the at least one mail attachment data file matches a first file type; and

in response to determining that the file type of the at least one mail attachment data file matches the first file type, tagging the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file with the retention policy.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether a file size of the at least one mail attachment data file exceeds a threshold file size; and

in response to determining that the file size of the at least one mail attachment data file exceeds the threshold file size, tagging the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file with the retention policy, wherein the first time period specified by the retention policy is less than a second time period specified by another retention policy for another mail attachment data file that does not exceed the threshold file size.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the mail object contains a first keyword; and

in response to determining that the mail object contains the first keyword, tagging the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file with the retention policy, wherein the first time period specified by the retention policy is greater than a second time period specified by another retention policy for another mail object that does not contain the first keyword.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request to access the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file after the copy has been removed from the network storage device according to the retention policy; and

returning an error response indicating that the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file is no longer available.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting an activation of the link by a recipient of the one or more recipients after the copy has been removed from the network storage device according to the retention policy; and

sending an error response to the recipient indicating that the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file is no longer available.

9. The method of claim 1, where the link to the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) link.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a subsequent request to send a subsequent mail object from the sender, the subsequent mail object containing the at least one mail attachment data file;

determining whether the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file exists on the network storage device; and

based on a determination that the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file exists on the network storage device, replacing the at least one mail attachment data file contained in the subsequent mail object with a link to the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file on the network storage device without creating a new copy of the at least one mail attachment data file on the network storage device.

11. A system for implementing retention policies of mail attachment data, the system comprising:

a network storage device comprising computer hardware and configured to store mail attachment data files; and

a client computing device comprising computer hardware and in network communication with the network storage device and configured to process mail data containing one or more mail attachment data files and store the mail data in one or more primary storage devices, wherein the client computing device is further configured to;

detect a request to send a mail object from a sender to one or more recipients, the mail object containing at least one mail attachment data file;

create a tagged copy of the at least one mail attachment data file on the network storage device, the tagged copy associated with a retention policy specifying a first time period for retaining the tagged copy on the network storage device, wherein the network storage device is accessible by the sender and/or the one or more recipients;

replace the at least one mail attachment data file contained in the mail object with a link to the tagged copy of the at least one mail attachment data file stored in the network storage device; and

send the mail object containing the link to the tagged copy of the at least one mail attachment data file to the one or more recipients.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the client computing device is further configured to remove the tagged copy from the network storage device after the first time period has passed.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the client computing device is further configured to:

determine whether one or more aliases associated with the one or more recipients include a first string; and

in response to a determination that the one or more aliases associated with the one or more recipients include the first string, tag the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file with the retention policy.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the client computing device is further configured to:

determine whether a file type of the at least one mail attachment data file matches a first file type; and

in response to a determination that the file type of the at least one mail attachment data file matches the first file type, tag the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file with the retention policy.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the client computing device is further configured to:

determine whether a file size of the at least one mail attachment data file exceeds a threshold file size; and

in response to a determination that the file size of the at least one mail attachment data file exceeds the threshold file size, tag the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file with the retention policy, wherein the first time period specified by the retention policy is less than a second time period specified by another retention policy for another mail attachment data file that does not exceed the threshold file size.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the client computing device is further configured to:

determine whether the mail object contains a first keyword; and

in response to a determination that the mail object contains the first keyword, tag the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file with the retention policy, wherein the first time period specified by the retention policy is greater than a second time period specified by another retention policy for another mail object that does not contain the first keyword.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the client computing device is further configured to:

receive a request to access the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file after the copy has been removed from the network storage device according to the retention policy; and

return an error response indicating that the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file is no longer available.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the client computing device is further configured to:

detect an activation of the link by a recipient of the one or more recipients after the copy has been removed from the network storage device according to the retention policy; and

send an error response to the recipient indicating that the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file is no longer available.

19. The system of claim 11, where the link to the copy of the at least one mail attachment data file is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) link.

20. A method for implementing retention policies of mail attachment data, the method comprising:

with one or more computing devices comprising computer hardware,

detecting a request to attach a mail attachment data file to a mail object to be sent from a sender to one or more recipients;

creating a tagged copy of the mail attachment data file on a network storage device accessible by the sender and the one or more recipients, the tagged copy associated with a retention policy specifying a first time period for retaining the tagged copy on the network storage device;

adding a link to the tagged copy of the mail attachment data file stored in the network storage device to the mail object; and

sending the mail object containing the link to the tagged copy of the mail attachment data file to the one or more recipients.