Method and system for creating and managing common and custom storage devices in a computer network
First Claim
1. A method for creating and managing storage devices in a computer network having a plurality of computers, comprising creating a common storage device having a primary common root storage device and an alternate common root storage device and a custom storage device, wherein the, common storage device stores files that are used by the plurality of computers and the custom storage device stores files specific to an individual one of the plurality of computers and further comprising updating the alternate common root storage device, causing each of the plurality of computers to use the undated alternate common root storage device upon reboot, determining that each of the plurality of computers are using the updated alternate common root storage device, updating the primary common root storage device and causing all of the plurality of computers to use the undated primary common root storage device upon reboot.
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Abstract
A method and system for creating and managing a plurality of storage devices in a computer network. The present invention creates a common root storage device, which stores files that are shared among several computers in the network, and a custom root storage device, which store files specific to a single computer. The method of the present invention includes creating common and custom root storage devices within the network, recognizing these devices during startup (boot) of a network computer and updating the common root storage devices as needed. In a preferred embodiment, multiple common root storage devices are used so that an alternate common root storage device may be updated while the primary common root storage device is in use. The present invention also includes a system for creating and managing storage devices on computers within the computer network using the aforementioned methods.
25 Citations
15 Claims
- 1. A method for creating and managing storage devices in a computer network having a plurality of computers, comprising creating a common storage device having a primary common root storage device and an alternate common root storage device and a custom storage device, wherein the, common storage device stores files that are used by the plurality of computers and the custom storage device stores files specific to an individual one of the plurality of computers and further comprising updating the alternate common root storage device, causing each of the plurality of computers to use the undated alternate common root storage device upon reboot, determining that each of the plurality of computers are using the updated alternate common root storage device, updating the primary common root storage device and causing all of the plurality of computers to use the undated primary common root storage device upon reboot.
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3. A method for creating and managing a common storage device having a primary common root storage device and an alternate common root storage device and a custom storage device within a computer network, the computer network having a plurality of computers, the method comprising:
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performing an install sequence to create the common storage device and the custom storage device on the computer network;
updating the common storage device using an update sequence when it is determined that the common storage device needs updating;
performing a boot sequence when it is determined that the one of the plurality of computers in the computer network has been rebooted;
updating the alternate common root storage device and causing each of the plurality of computers to use the updated alternate common root storage device upon reboot;
determining that each of the plurality of computers are using the updated alternate common root storage device; and
updating the primary common root storage device and causing all of the plurality of computers to use the updated primary common root storage device upon reboot. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A storage device management system for creating and managing common root storage devices having primary common root storage devices and alternate common root storage devices and custom root storage devices in a computer network containing a plurality of computers, the storage device management system comprising:
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a storage area network in communication with the plurality of computers, the storage area network comprising;
common root storage devices containing files common to each of the plurality of computers, wherein each of the plurality of computers use updated information from the alternate common root storage devices upon reboot and wherein all of the plurality of computers use undated primary common root storage devices upon reboot when it is determined that each of the plurality of computers are using the updated alternate common root storage devices; and
custom root storage devices for each of the plurality of computers, each of the plurality of computers having a corresponding custom root storage device that contains files specific to the corresponding one of the plurality of computers. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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Specification