Merging files on storage and retrieve

• US 8,103,631 B2
• Filed: 11/19/2008
• Issued: 01/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Western Digital Israel Limited (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: SanDisk IL Ltd. (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Golde, Ittai, Hahn, Judah Gamliel, Tsvi, Yaakov Ben
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phong
• Application Number:
  US12/274,145
• Publication Number:
  US 20100125591A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,161 Days
• Field of Search: 707/640, 707/647, 707/661, 707/673, 709/203, 709/227, 709/231
• US Class Current: 707/640
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers

Abstract

A client designates and transfers a file to a server in distinct chunks. The number of data chunks equals the number of communication sessions that are required to complete the transfer of the designated file to the server, that number being dependent on the number of times the communication session between the client and the server is interrupted. If the designated file includes several concatenated client files, each chunk of the designated file may include one or more such client files. Each chunk of the designated file may include some part of a client file and one or more whole client files. The byte-wise size or length of a chunk depends on the duration of the related communication session: the longer a communication session, the larger the related chunk. By transferring the designated file to the server as distinctly recognizable chunks, the need to retransmit large files to the server is avoided.

Claims

1. A method for transferring data from a client to a server, the method comprising:

by a client;

designating a file for transfer to a server;

establishing a communication session between the client and the server;

starting the transfer of the file to the server, wherein the file is transferred using a first variant of a file name of the file; and

when the communication session is interrupted after a first portion of the file is transferred to the server and before transfer of the file to the server is completed;

identifying a second portion of the file that has not been transferred to the server when the communication session is interrupted;

assigning a second variant of the file name of the file to the second portion of the file, wherein each of the first variant of the file name and the second variant of the file name includes a unique sequential identifier that includes an alphabetical, numeric, or alphanumeric index, and wherein the unique sequential identifier of the second variant of the file name is sequentially related to the unique sequential identifier of the first variant of the file name; and

starting transfer of the second portion of the file to the server using the second variant of the file name.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein each of the first variant of the file name and the second variant of the file name includes a unique suffix, prefix, or file extension to the file name.

3. The method as in claim 1, further comprising using information indicating what portion of the file is successfully transferred to the server to identify an offset from which transfer of the rest of the file should continue.

4. The method as in claim 3, wherein the client retrieves the information from the server.

5. The method as in claim 3, wherein the information is maintained and updated by the client.

6. The method as in claim 3, wherein the information includes a size of each part of the file that is transferred to the server, and wherein the offset is derived from the size of each part of the file that is successfully transferred to the server.

7. The method as in claim 6, wherein the offset is the sum of the size of each part of the file that is successfully transferred to the server excluding the size of a part that was transferred to the server during a previous communication session.

8. The method as in claim 1, further comprising assigning to a flag at the server a repeating value to indicate when transferring the file to the server is not completed and assigning to the flag a non-repeating value to indicate to the client when transferring the file to the server is completed.

9. The method as in claim 8, wherein the flag is assigned the repeating value before or during a first communication session, and wherein the flag is assigned the non-repeating value after transfer of the file to the server is completed.

10. The method as in claim 1, wherein the file transferred to the server includes k sub-files f₁, f₂, . . . , f_k (where 1≦

k≦

n).

11. The method as in claim 10, wherein if a communication session is interrupted during transfer of a particular one of the k sub-files, the particular one of the k sub-files is retransferred during a consecutive communication session.

12. The method as in claim 10, further comprising:

sequentially retrieving one of the k sub-files from the server responsive to transferring a file name of one of the k sub-files to the server.

13. The method as in claim 10, further comprising subsequent to the client requesting the file from the server, receiving the k sub-files in the file from the server as one concatenated file.

14. The method as in claim 1, wherein the file is transferred from the client to the server by using Hypertext Transfer Protocol.

15. A device configured to operate as a client for transfer of one or more files to a server, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory device storing a client software application, the memory device being operatively linked with the processor,

wherein the processor is configured to execute instructions of the client software application to;

designate a file for transfer to a server;

establish a communication session between the processor and the server;

start transfer of the file to the server; and

if the communication session is interrupted one or more times before transfer of the file to the server is completed, transfer each successive portion of the file that is determined not to be successfully transferred to the server at a time when the communication session is interrupted, wherein each successive portion of the file is assigned a unique variant of a file name of the file and transferred to the server using the unique variant of the file name of the file until the transfer of the file to the server is completed, wherein each unique variant of the file name includes a unique sequential identifier that includes an alphabetical, numeric, or alphanumeric index, and wherein the unique sequential identifier of each successive portion of the file is sequentially related to the unique sequential identifier of a preceding portion of the file.

16. The device as in claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to use information indicating what portion of the file is successfully transferred to the server to identify an offset from which transfer of the rest of the file should continue.

17. The device as in claim 16, wherein the processor is configured to retrieve the information from the server.

18. The device as in claim 16, wherein the processor is configured to maintain and update the information.

19. The device as in claim 16, wherein the information includes a size of each part of the file that is transferred to the server, and wherein the offset is derived from the size of each part of the file that is successfully transferred to the server.

20. The device as in claim 15, wherein each unique variant of the file name includes the unique sequential identifier in a suffix to the file name, in a prefix to the file name, or in a file extension to the file name.